Miniature Stone Reliquary or Toilette Casket

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this sculpture as gray schist.

The museum's collection notes: Tiny reliquaries holding the cremated remains of the Buddha or a high-ranking holy person empowered monuments and made them sacred. A Buddhist monument, such as the solid hemispherical mounds called stupas, would not be worshipped until it was consecrated with the relic secreted inside. Bits of ash were combined with tiny gems inside a crystal or glass reliquary, which was then placed inside a stone or metal container, like the lidded versions seen here. These containers look like cosmetic vessels for aromatic pastes used for perfume in ancient India. Buddhist texts state that the enlightened Buddha emitted a fragrance like sandalwood paste;