Tibetan silver metalwork
Hand-forged Himalayan metalwork on two strictly separate lines: genuine 925 / fine silver pieces, and white-copper tourist wares that are never described as silver. Small bowls, amulet boxes and personal ornaments can be signed.
In preparation · Shigatse and Nagarze county (Shannan), Tibet, China; Himalayan workshops in Nepal as comparison
The craft
Hammer-raising, chasing and repoussé, filigree, gilding and turquoise or coral inlay in genuine 925 / fine silver.
Zaxi Jicai gold-and-silver forging (Shigatse) was listed as national-level intangible heritage in 2011; Aza gold-and-silver forging (Nagarze) as regional-level in 2018. No workshop supply agreement has been signed, so no maker-level claim is made here.
Maker series: Maker selection in progress.
What the work is about
A piece begins as sheet silver and is raised by hammering over two or three days, then chased with cloud, dragon or lotus motifs, inlaid with turquoise and coral, and sometimes gilded. Small forms are dense, resilient and travel well; their value sits in the smith's hand rather than their weight.
The name hides a material fork. Market "Tibetan silver" is usually white copper - a copper-nickel alloy containing essentially no silver - as Chinese Tibetan-affairs, science-outreach and state-media sources consistently report. Describing it as "silver" overseas risks EU REACH, California 65 and marketplace RSL action for misdescribing a material, and white copper itself raises nickel-release concerns. Our line therefore separates genuine silver, marked "925 Sterling Silver", from white-copper wares labelled plainly as containing no silver.
The category stays in preparation. Before any piece could appear here we need a signed maker supply agreement with price, lead time and minimum order, four-channel comparable price points, verified inheritor credentials and third-party compliance reports. Until then we publish the conditions and collect enquiries, not listings.
In preparation · no pieces listed
We do not list objects we cannot show
This category is being assessed against the same 7-dimension model used for the porcelain line. A named maker, real object photography, measured dimensions and the documents below come before any listing.
Register an interestAI reconstruction
Representative forms (illustrated preview)
These six forms come from our category research file. They show the range of the craft, not objects we hold.
All six images are AI reconstructions generated from the craft and form characteristics of each type. They are NOT photographs of real objects, do not represent any item for sale, and are not a basis for pricing.
No prices are published for this category. Final forms and prices depend on signed maker supply agreements, verified material reports and real object photography.
AI reconstructionSilver tea bowl set
Zaxi Jicai, Shigatse (national-level heritage, 2011). Bowl, stand and lid, hammer-raised and chased.
AI reconstructionSilver teapot / water vessel
Collector anchor: hammered body, filigree, dragon handle, turquoise and coral inlay; 0.23-1.58 kg.
AI reconstructionGhau amulet box
Aza, Nagarze (regional-level heritage, 2018). An opening box with the six-syllable mantra, worn as a pendant.
AI reconstructionGesang flower earrings
Jiazhu village cooperative, Nagarze. Chased Tibetan-daisy motif, about two days per pair.
AI reconstructionBumpa ritual vessel
Observation only: a ritual ewer presented as decorative art, pending legal review of the wording.
AI reconstructionTibetan chang wine pot
Zaxi Jicai / Aza. A rounded folk vessel with chased cloud scrolls, sharing the teapot reference points.
Material and compliance limits
Market "Tibetan silver" is usually white copper (a copper-nickel alloy) and contains essentially no silver. Labelling it "silver" overseas risks EU REACH, California 65 and marketplace RSL action for misdescribing a material. Only genuine 925 / fine-silver pieces would ever carry a silver claim here; white-copper wares would be labelled plainly and kept on a separate line. Prices and final forms await signed maker supply agreements.
Source: illustrated category research reports, November 2026. Internal research, not an offer to sell.
Admission criteria
What has to be true before a piece from this category can appear here.
- Genuine-silver pieces assayed and marked "925 Sterling Silver" / "fine silver"; white-copper pieces labelled "nickel silver, contains no silver" and never marketed as silver
- A named living smith with a signed supply agreement covering price, lead time, minimum order and repeat supply
- EU REACH (Cd <= 100 ppm, Pb <= 500 ppm, nickel release), California 65 / CPSIA and marketplace RSL reports from an ISO 17025 laboratory
- Ritual vessels presented only as decorative art; religious-function claims and unverifiable monastic provenance are excluded
- One-of-a-kind or tightly limited pieces with real object photography; no catalogue of unverified alloy wares
Evidence on hand
Stated as fact only where a document or a photograph can be shown.
- No pieces are listed. No supply agreement, assay or object photograph has been published for this category yet. The research files dated 2026-11-11 document three workshop traditions, four-channel price sampling, a four-SKU seven-dimension assessment and the compliance red lines above; those are internal research, not offers.
Guide prices, planned price bands, category scores and internal cost data are not published. The compliance limits stated here come from dated research files and describe conditions for a future listing - not a claim that any piece has passed them.