A gau, shrine-shaped Tibetan amulet box, is filled with religious contents to protect the wearer as well as serve as a portable shrine. Like this work, the gau consisting of large-scale amulet boxes served as a Buddhist Travel altar brought by pilgrims when traveling long distances. It was worn by a man for spiritual protection and carried like a bag or attached to a belt around the waist. Each amulet boxes have talismans, pictures or a Buddhist statues inside them. The central window of gau box reveals a particularly precious object, such as a small statuette or relic. This Set of Tibetan amulet boxes contains eleven painted clay tsa-tsa, the religious offering relief, such as Amitabha (阿彌陀佛), Manjusri (文殊菩薩), and Tara (多羅菩薩), which are revered in Tibetan Buddhism, in nine gau boxes. The window frames of the three gau boxes at the top and bottom are decorated with auspicious icons of Buddhism such as a pair of dragons, lotus flower, and Kirtimukha. In the other six boxes, the eight auspicious signs of Tibetan buddhism known as the Ashtamangala consist of the endless knot, lotus flower, jewelled parasol, white conch shell, wheel of the law (dharmachakra), treasure vase, victory banner (dhvaja) and pair of golden fish. These amulet boxes were placed on colored silk and completed as a religious work of art. This set of Tibetan gau boxes and offering tsa-tsa sculptures' delicate figurative details testify to the accomplishment of the Tibetan craftsmen who made it.

(Reference: Kapstein, Matthew. Buddhism Between Tibet and China. Wisdom Publications, 2009.)