Votive Plaque
Unknown Artist
15th–17th century
Medium
Clay
Dimensions
1 x 1 1/2 in. (2.5 x 3.81 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture
Tibet (Central Asia?)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1930
Accession Number
30.32.89
Art Historical Context
This delicate **Votive Plaque**, from clay in Tibet (Central Asia?) during the 15th17th centuries, exemplifies intimate devotional art of Tibetan Buddhism. Measuring just 1 x 1½ inches (2.5 x 3.81 cm), this tiny sculpture was likely created as a personal offering—known as a *tsha-tsha*—molded from clay mixed with sacred substances like ashes or blessed water. Devotees pressed these plaques into temple walls, stupas, or shrines to accumulate merit and invoke divine protection, reflecting the era's profound spiritual fervor amid the flourishing of Tibetan monastic traditions. Artistically, the ...