Ritual Tibetan Sword / Vajra Flaying Knife from Tibet

Circa 15th century

Steel with gold and silver inlays; 22 11/16 x 3 1/4 in. (57.7 x 8.3 cm)

Gift of Alexander Polsky, 1985 (1985.397)

This ritual knife is styled in the Indian manner—with a long hooked steel blade for butchering and flaying. The handle takes the form of a vajra (thunderbolt) that metamorphoses into a wide-jawed sea monster (makara), from which the blade emerges. Workshops in the region of Derge, Kham Province, in eastern Tibet, that excelled in such fine chiseled and damascened metalworking techniques may be responsible for this elaborate knife.

Source: www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/39407