Bone, Shell & Old Ivory

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Here you will find hard to find bone, horn, old ivory (pre-ban only) and shell beads.

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Rare Human Skull Kapala Mala with Antique Turquoise

Our Price: £500.00

A rare tantric mala (Thöpa Trengwa) comprised of 108 authentic human skull beads and a impressive skull guru bead (our last one) carved from horn. It is extremely difficult to source these beads and in fact we have exhausted the remaining stock of our supplier. This means it is unlikely we will be able to source more in the near future. The beads are particularly fine. This mala includes antique turquoise dividers, a new three eyed oval dZi and silver counters for keeping track of mantra recitations.

Age: kapala beads were crafted in the 1990s
Bead size approx 14 mm diameter (6 mm width)
skull guru bead crafted in the ancient city of Bhaktapur approx 32 mm x 23 mm
Antique turquoise = 100 to 300 years old.
strung on strong braided nylon cord.

Three Matched Rare Quality Conch Shell Skull Beads

Three Matched Rare Quality Conch Shell Skull Beads

Our Price: £45.00

Three wonderful hand carved conch skull beads. A perfect set full of character and great for adding to a mala.

Sourced in Nepal
Material: Conch/Chank Shell
Condition: Excellent
height approx 17 mm
width approx 16 mm

Large Bone Skull Bead

Our Price: £5.00

These large vintage skull beads came out of Tibet but were probably made in India or Nepal. In the Himalayan regions the skull bead has long been used in traditional mala compositions. They are also used to adorn ritual dance costumes. You will receive ONE bead of identical quality to the beads shown.

age: less than 50 years
height approx 30 mm x 28 mm

Hand Carved Bone Skull Bead

SOLD!

A very large well crafted bead that is most likely carved from Water Buffalo bone.

Origin: India
Material: Bone
Condition: Excellent
46 mm x 37 mm

Finely Carved Skull Bead

SOLD!

A finely carved bead designed to replicate a human skull. It is most likely carved from Water Buffalo bone.

Origin: India
Material: Bone
Condition: Excellent
26 mm x 22 mm

Antique Bone Mala

SOLD!

A lovely antique bone mala comprised or perfectly uniform disc shaped beads and displaying clear signs of prior use. Beads have been worn smooth from countless recitations of mantra. It was aquired from an old Himalayan collection here in the UK and was sold as being made from human bone, however, it might be animal bone. It includes three antique turquoise beads that were originally found with this piece. All of the 108 beads are present.

Condition: Very Good
Age: 19th century
Origin: Tibet/Himalayan
disc bead size = 12 mm diameter

Rare Human Skull Bone Mala

SOLD OUT!

A rare tantric mala (Thöpa Trengwa) comprised of 108 authentic human skull beads. The mala includes 108 extremely clean disc shaped beads. They come from a source with a limited supply, so once these have been exhausted it is unsure when we will have more. Not to be confused with the cheap water buffalo bone malas masqerading as human bone! Guaranteed to be authentic!!

Origin: Himalayas
diameter approx 15 mm
width approx 7 mm

Rare Antique Bone Mala

SOLD!

A rare tantric mala (Thöpa Trengwa) comprised of 105 authentic human bone beads and three antique red coral dividers, which gives a total of 108 beads. It is incredibly difficult to source authentic human bone beads and this is in fact the only antique mala of its type that we have offered in the past 13 years of trading. The mala includes old leather strung copper counters worn smooth from extensive use. The beads display a lovely colour and patina from countless recitation of mantras. The beads are beautifully made and are a concave disc shape, which is much more unique. Each bead has a diameter of 9 mm and a width of 3 mm, so this is a small mala.

Age: 19th Century
Origin: Tibet/Himalayas
diameter approx 9 mm
width approx 3 mm

Antique Ivory Mala

SOLD!

An antique ivory disc bead mala aquired from an old collection of Tibetan artefacts. Please note that due to the great age of this piece there are only 93 ivory disc beads remaining. Each bead dispalys a wonderful patina from possibly millions of mantra recitations. It comes complete with a very large ivory guru bead with loads of character and a naturally formed eye.

It has recently been re-threaded on strong braided cord.

Condition: Very Good
Ivory Age: 19th century or earlier
Origin: Tibet/Himalayan

Guru bead size = 27 mm
disc bead size = 9 mm diameter

Human Skull Kapala Mala

SOLD!

A tantric mala comprised of 108 authentic human skull or kapala beads and a skull guru bead carved from antler.

Age: 20th century
Origin: Nepal
Kapala bead size approx 14 mm diameter (3 to 4 mm width)
skull guru bead approx 25 mm x 18 mm

Human Skull Kapala Mala

SOLD!

A tantric mala comprised of 108 authentic human skull or kapala beads and a large conch shell guru bead. It also includes a single carved bone skull bead and a silver eternal knot marker.

Age: 20th century
Origin: Nepal
Kapala bead size approx 19.55 mm diameter (3 to 4 mm width)
conch guru bead approx 28 mm

Kapala or Human Skull Beads

SOLD!

A tantric wrist mala, comprised of 72 human skull or kapala beads and a single antique coral bead. These genuine kapala beads are in very condition and are very hard to find.

Age: 20th century
Antique Coral bead diameter approx 13 mm

Rare Human Skull Kapala Mala - 108 beads

SOLD!

A rare tantric mala (Thöpa Trengwa) comprised of 108 authentic human skull beads and a impressive skull guru bead carved from horn. It is extremely difficult to source these beads and in fact we have exhausted the remaining stock of our supplier. This means it is unlikely we will be able to source more in the near future. The beads are particularly fine.

Age: beads were crafted in the 1990s
Bead size approx 14 mm diameter (6 mm width)
skull guru bead crafted in the ancient city of Bhaktapur approx 25 mm x 20 mm
strung on strong braided nylon cord (colour of cord may vary)

Huge Mother of Pearl Shell Bead with Coral Inlay

SOLD!

A wonderful large bead inlaid with small pieces of coral. The bead displays wonderful iridescence. This piece would make a great focal bead on a necklace.

Sourced in Nepal
Condition: Excellent
length approx 35 mm
width approx 31 mm

Hand Carved Dharmapala Amulet

SOLD OUT!

A great looking hand carved Dharmapala amulet. Includes a small sapphire at the apex and is framed with silver. The quality of the carving is particularly nice on this piece.

Condition: Excellent
Material: Bone
Origin: Nepal
height approx 32 mm
width approx 16 mm

Huge Mother of Pearl Shell Bead with Turquoise & Lapis

SOLD!

A wonderful large bead inlaid with small pieces of turquoise and lapis. The bead displays wonderful iridescence.

Sourced in Nepal
Condition: Excellent
length approx 35 mm
width approx 30 mm

Huge Mother of Pearl Shell Bead with Turquoise

SOLD!

A wonderful large bead inlaid with small pieces of turquoise. The bead displays wonderful iridescence.

Sourced in Nepal
Condition: Excellent
width approx 35 mm
length approx 45 mm

Rare Quality Skull Bead

SOLD!

This is a wonderful hand carved skull bead that appears to be carved from deer antler.

Sourced in the ancient Newar city of Bhaktapur, Nepal
Condition: Excellent
height approx 40 mm
width approx 25 mm

Antique Ivory Ring for Adornment

SOLD!

A gorgeous piece of antique ivory with an amazing patina. In Tibet these pieces are traditionally worn in the hair.

Origin: Tibet
19th Century
Condition: Excellent
47.41 mm diameter
depth 14.61 mm

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