Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the many anonymous informants who generously shared their knowledge and experiences of these objects with me, as well as those who sheltered, fed, directed, transported, instructed and welcomed me in my travels across the Himalayas. This project could not have been conceived or executed without their kindness and curiosity.

I am also grateful for the SOAS Overseas Research Studentship which allowed me to undertake this work, and the SOAS Neil Kreitman Studentship and PhD Research Grant from Khyentse Foundation which further allowed me to complete it.

At SOAS, I benefited from the guidance and encouragement of my cohort and colleagues in History of Art and Archaeology and the Centre for Buddhist Studies, specifically Louise Tythacott and Ulrich Pagel, both members of my supervisory committee. I’d also like to thank my examiners Clare Harris and Cathy Cantwell for their invaluable comments.

Thanks as well to the institutions and staff who made their collections accessible at the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Wellcome Collection/National Science Museum, National Museums Liverpool, and Pitt Rivers Museum; thanks also to colleagues at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology in Gangtok and Tibet Museum in Dharamsala.

I would also like to most humbly thank those who have supported me emotionally and intellectually throughout this process, starting with my incredible parents, who always believed I could do it; and my friends, from Whidbey Island to Kalimpong, thank you for your wit, love and patience. I have also had the most amazing luck in sharing this experience with my partner Hassan Ould Moctar.

Lastly, I cannot adequately express my gratitude for having had the honor to work with Christian Luczanits as a supervisor, and whose expertise and support were always available to me.

This work is dedicated to my teachers, especially Rene.