The Begging Bowl

This gilded monkey skull, often referred to as a “begging bowl”, was once used to by monks to appease angry spirits in Tibet. Skulls of all kinds – including human skulls – were often created as offering plates in which wine, bread, and often blood were offered to vengeful demons in order to drive them away from a holy place.

This particular begging bowl belonged to a Chicago-area man who recalled that his grandfather often “fed” the skull blood in order to perpetuate the family’s “good fortune”. The family was careful never to forget the meals, because if they did, an angry entity would wreak havoc on their lives.