An Auspicious Tibetan Furniture Piece - 1734 Words

It is interesting to think that furniture is something we take for granted in the modern West, unless we are interested in and collect antique furniture. Western furniture includes useful, practical items – chairs that we sit on, raised beds that we sleep on, desks that we rest our computers on, bookshelves we put our books on, etc. So it can be hard to imagine a culture, such as that of Tibet, where some of the furniture has a completely different function, being used in a ritual and devotional capacity. In this essay, I will be analyzing a nineteenth century furniture piece from Central Tibet with the label name Altar Table with Auspicious Symbols that is currently on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The furnishing is made from wood with mineral pigments and stands approximately twenty-four inches in height, thirty-three inches in width, and eleven inches in depth. My goal, upon completion of the essay, is to further my understanding of the altar table in Tibet which includes the importance of the material, symbolism and iconography, its main purpose and function, and background in the culture. I will start with my original analysis of the piece and add in my research to the following paragraphs. When I first walked into the room where this piece was exhibited I was immediately drawn to its ornate details and rather bright colors compared to the other objects that were displayed next to this one. The worn primary colors contrasted with the browns of the