pegam

painted wood
Tibet, 17th-18th cent.
size: 63,5 x 68 cm.; 36 cm. deep

a pegam is a special table/small cabinet, for reading the religious books.
The front is painted with the Six Symbols of Long Life (Tsering Drug), and Hva Shang. The center-panel (slides open) is mysterious: a monster offering a jewel, and a meditating monk (?). In top, in the round medallion, sits Milarepa. The sides are painted with religious figures.

For the type, see: David Kamansky, Wooden Wonders, Tibetan Furniture in secular and religious use, Pasadena 2004, p. 285-287 (nrs 106-109)
Chris Buckley, Tibetan Furniture, London 2005, p. 186-188 (nrs. 165-167).