Nepalese Gao or Prayer Box Depicting 3 Deities of Long Life

Three seated figures and a small stupa, all fitted into a pocket-sized arch.

This gao or prayer box depicting three deities of long life is from Nepal and is contemporary, in silver and copper. Gau boxes are portable shrines, worn or carried across the Himalayas, and the Nepalese ones often hold small sacred items inside. The front is a pointed arch of silver, embossed with a central figure seated on a lotus above two smaller deities, and a slender stupa stands at their feet. A rim frames the panel, and a copper body sits behind, with small loops at the sides for a cord. It is 2 inches wide and 1.25 high.

The smallest of chapels, and still fully furnished.