TIBETAN TSOG  SPOONS


William K. of Australia has done further research

on these spoons and has convinced me that they are from Tibet or

Nepal and were designed to be Buddhist Tsog spoons.

                     This article differs from the way they were described in Rainwater's book. I talked with her about them many years ago and she based her comments on a dealer's description.

                               Graham Smith of  the UK has done further research on these spoons and has determined that they were primarily used for medicine.


tibetan tsog spoons
These spoons are all hand made, and while they are very similar in style, they also show many obvious differences.

The center stones are usually coral or turquoise (coral color and blue which are believed to have medicinal properties). The rightmost spoon, however, is a faceted purple glass and
other stones have also been found in similar spoons.

The bowls usually have a hump in the middle dividing them in half and in that respect are similar to annointing spoons which were used on the British Monarchy.

There are no identifying marks of any kind.  Some of the older spoons are believed to be an unknown grade of silver and the newer ones are some type of silvery metal.
It is believed that the older ones were probaby made from silver which had been used in other objects.
I suspect that the only way to determine metallic content would be via an acid test.



The Tsog spoon (pronouced "soak") are used in ritualized offerings.

"The tsog  is the gathering of:

1.  practitioners - viewed as their enlightened nature,

2.  offering substances -  the edible substances represent skillful means & the liquids wisdom,

3.  buddhas - imagine an entire mandala of buddhas; and

4.  merit and wisdom - result from 1-3. Merit is the accumulation of devotion & compassion, and wisdom is the development of non-conceptual reference."

Offering substances include: sweet, sour, salty, grain, wine, flowers and meat (dairy is optional). Offerings are selected without preference or aversion and without  the idea that one has spent too much or too little."

tsog tibetan spoons
I found this picture on michaelbackmanltd.com and at this writing these spoons are  for sale
He is claiming that this group of seven is silver.
He further describes them:

"Each has an applied floral button midway along the stem. Three of the seven spoons retain the original turquoise cabochon beads inset in the middle of the
flower.

Each of the handles and bowls of each spoon is engraved with a mixture of one of the seven offering bowls and/or the eight auspicious objects.

The stems are engraved with a zig-zag motif infilled with flower motifs.

Silver medicine spoons were used for centuries in Tibetan medicine: silver was believed to have antiseptic properties."


The age of TSOG spoons is indeterminate. Some are old but new ones (that look old) can still be purchased for a few dollars.


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