Featured BASS MUSEUM DEACCESSION AUCTION WIN - MEIJI PERIOD SCROLL/DOCUMENT HOLDER?

I won this at a Bass Museum (Miami Beach) auction that they had to reduce inventory (or raise money?). It is described as a Asian silver & mixed metals Buddha scroll tube with silver raised Buddha and Quan Yin forms along with applied character marks in copper and nickel.

It is short & fat (9 x 2 1/2") & it is suppose to be from the Meiji period (1868 - 1912).

Was work like this done in the 1800's? I like it + I thought the pedigree of coming from the Bass museum would add to it when reselling but am wondering if it's as old as described?

Thanks, I appreciate any help.

 

Just curious... Did the Museum really tell you it was Meiji era Japanese?

Debora

 

You have to be careful about things from museums - sometimes not really in their collection at all, but have been gifted (e.g. estate contents from a donor) and museum never had it on display or part of their collection so they just sell off what they don't want. Different if you know it had been displayed, but even then a museum will sometimes conclude they were wrong about the history of something and get rid of it.

 

The "words" on the sides look Chinese and those on the lid may be Tibetan.

 

looks like a mortar shell....

 

Is that rust on the inside?

 

There are some similar types on Liveauctioneers listed as from Tibet.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/search/?keyword=tibet brass tube&sort=-relevance&status=archive

 

It DOES look like a mortar shell! It was describes as "old, oriental scroll or document holder" - when I went to the gallery today to pay & pick up (saved $45 shipping for Ft Lauderdale to Miami) I asked the lady if she knew how old it was & she looked at the paperwork with it & told me meiji.
I can't tell if it's rust or discolored but ring around bottom looks like a solder or weld.
I got it for $50 - did I lose money?!

 

The tube itself is 4 pieces braised together,you can see the vertical seam lines.

 

It does look like the other Tibetan - they called it old Asian in description & on receipt - oh well

 

Auctioneers make up the strangest things, don't they.
It is a Tibetan scroll holder, mid 20th century, made of base metals.
The words are Sanskrit, the religious language used in most forms of Buddhism.
There are never images of Guanyin/Quan Yin in Tibetan Buddhism, if there are female deities it is likely to be Tara.

Meiji is a Japanese period, so it isn't relevant in this case.