votive tablet (tsa-tsa)

votive tablet (tsa-tsa) , 1700s–1800s

Where object was made: Burma (present-day Myanmar)

Material/technique: clay

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 13.8 x 12.6 x 3.4 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 5 7/16 x 4 15/16 x 1 5/16 in

Credit line: Gift of Dr. Mary F. Gray

Accession number: 1997.0444.01

On display: Loo Gallery

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Debut

This small clay tablet is a tsa-tsa—a votive image made by Buddhist pilgrims or acquired at pilgrimage sites. A tsa-tsa provides traveling devotees with a portable icon to worship. The central figure in this tsa-tsa sits framed by a tower that resembles Mahabodhi temple, a holy site where Sakyamuni Buddha is believed to have achieved enlightenment. The figure’s features have faded, but he appears to be making the teaching gesture, dharmacakra mudra, pressing the thumb and index finger of each hand together to form a wheel. The figure’s hair is short and curly, which references Sakyamuni cutting his hair when he renounced earthly attachments. He is encircled by stupas, or funerary structures that often contain relics such as the Buddha’s remains. The lower part of the tablet includes an inscription called the ye dharma or “those phenomena,” which references the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism.

Debut