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Ivory Prayer Beads
OriginTibet
Dateearly 19th century
Dimensions24 1/4 × 3 3/4 × 1 1/4 in.
MediumIvory, coral, silver, leather, cord
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art, Gift of Anne Breckenridge Dorsey
Object numberC2012.6.37
DescriptionThis strand of 108 beads (trengwa) has tripled separator beads of coral, a large guru bead flanked by decorative beads, and two sets of counters. This example of a Tibetan trengwa was owned by an avid reciter of devotional formulas (mantras) and was serious about accumulating hundreds of thousands of recitations as signified by the 4 counters; a pair of these counters is normally used to count hundreds of recitations, while the other is used to count thousands. Moreover each round of recitations would include more than 108, as the additional beads described would add to the overall count. We can also deduce from the materials of this strand, ivory and coral, that the beads were used universally for various mantras. This is also implied by a metal adornment, which separates 9 beads within the first group of 27, allowing this long strand to also be used for practices that require groups of 9 recitations.Not on view
19th century
Date unknown
19th century
20th century
early 19th century
19th - 20th century
19th century
18th century
ca. 1800
late 19th century
18th or 19th century
19th century
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