Country Group: South and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam)

Item id: 9762

Very Rare 16th–17th Century Bird-Form Crystal Reliquary Excavated in Northern Thailand (Hod District), 1960s. This exceptionally rare bird-form crystal reliquary, dating to the 16th–17th century, is a superb example of early Thai Buddhist ritual craftsmanship. Carved from a single piece of quartz crystal using early hand tools, the figure has a remarkable presence—compact, heavy, and beautifully formed.



The bird itself measures 2⅞ inches tall, 3½ inches long, and 2½ inches wide, and weighs 345 grams. On its custom museum-style stand, it reaches a height of 4⅜ inches. Originally, the reliquary would have been fitted with a gold top, now long lost. This piece was excavated in the 1960s in the Hod district of Northern Thailand, during the construction of a reservoir that resulted in the flooding of ancient temple ruins. Relics discovered in this context were few, and crystal examples of this type are exceptionally scarce.



The reliquary comes from a world-class, multi-generation collection of Thai Buddhist quartz crystal objects, parts of which were dispersed in the late 1990s during the financial downturn. I acquired several pieces from that long-respected collection—this being one of only two I have retained. A true museum piece: rare, early, beautifully carved, and unusually substantial for its size.