Introduction

Tibetan arms and armor were kept in service for a very long time. Usually kept in votive armories, all gear came out annually at the New Year's festivities in Lhasa. Some of the items used we now know dated to as early as the 15th century.

Lhasa, New Year's Parade, 1938 / 1939.
Photo by Ernst Schäfer, Deutsches Bundesarchiv accession number 135-S-14-13-14.

Description

A once very nicely made Tibetan quiver. Made with a wooden U-shaped frame to which leather was attached from and back. 

The front side was decorated with a leather edge studied with silver bosses, 33 in total of which 31 remain. with old fabric, probably once velvet. Inside this frame is a patch of fabric, probably once velvet, with a braided border in several colors.

At the bottom are stylized waves and a rock, inspired by Qing dragon robes. At the top section is a scrolling ornament. It has two extra pockets for arrows at the front.

Over time, the quiver has lost one of its two cross-straps (see photo above) and three larger bosses, two of which held rings for the suspension system. The remaining boss is dented.

What happened next...

Possibly still intent on taking the quiver to the festivities, a previous owner gave up on the traditional suspension system and had a belt hook attached directly to the wooden frame. The quiver responded by reminding us what the cross-straps were for; the weight was too much for the wooden frame and it snapped.

I was tempted to restore this quiver to former glory, but considering the excellent workmanship on the remaining parts, this was going to be difficult and expensive. So I decided to sell "as is".  It is a nice example that can teach students of the quiver a lot about Asian quiver designs.