ENSEMBLE DE TROIS COUPES KAPALAS NÉPAL, DATÉES 1791ENSEMBLE DE TROIS COUPES KAPALASNÉPAL, DATÉES 1791 Himalayan Art Resources item no. 205085 14.5 cm (5 3/4 in.), the longestA GROUP OF THREE KAPALAS NEPAL, DATED 1791 尼泊爾 1791年 嘎巴拉供碗一組三件The skull-cup, or kapala, is typically either fashioned from the upper section of a human skull or a substituted material that bears its likeness. It is used as a libation vessel in ceremonial rites associated with various wrathful deities, dakinis, siddhas, and lineage holders. Another Nepalese example of this type, which connects two skulls flanking the head of a bodhisattva by a beaded sash, displays a copper interior lined with a gold rim (see HAR 41075). Also compare a similarly styled kapala in the Rubin Museum of Art (C2004.8.1a-b).Published:Gilles Béguin, L'Art Newar De La Vallée De Kathmandu, Paris, 1990, p. 78.Provenance:Collection Gérard Labre, ParisAcquired from the above in the 1990s