Rare Antique Tibetan Lama Phurba

The vast majority of antique phurba belonged to Himalayan Shamans who personally carved them as magical power tools for use in transformational, healing and protection rituals.  

This particular phurba probably served a similar purpose but is more substantial and takes a stylistically different form because it is thought to have belonged to a Tibetan Buddhist Lama, monk or priest.  

It features the single large head of a wrathful deity with extended ears and a third eye on the forehead, and a horse-head topknot.  The central part is a Tibetan Buddhist vajra or dorje, leading to a superb mythical elephant Makara.  Its short 3-sided blade features, on the back, a carved script and a pair of inter-twined Nagas (snakes).

This interesting phurba is in an excellent state of preservation, suggesting that it was used wand-like and symbolically, and not frequently thrust into the ground shaman-like.  It is black in colour with an aged patina, and feels special in the hand.

Note: Most phurba on the market today are modern reproductions faked to appear old, and it takes a keen eye and considerable experience to tell the difference.  I originally acquired this Lama Phurba in a Kathmandu antique shop for myself, not for resale.