Coptic Sarcophagus

When viewing this Coptic looking sarcophagus I couldn't help but giggle thinking of how much it looks like he had an accident.

Carved Heiroglyphics

Japanese Armour

Tanto

Dagger (Tanto) and a dagger mounting.
The tanto is a short sword or dagger. This one was made by a medieval sword smith called Kunimitsu, working in the 1300s and must have been a treasured heirloom. The mounting includes a scabbard, hilt and guard, as well as a small knife that fits into the handle.
Samurai women learned how to use daggers. In extreme situations they were expected to fight, or stab themselves rather than be captured by the enemy.

Japanese Wakizashi

Blade for a wakizashi (companion sword) and a wakizashi mounting.
A companion sword was worn at all times, indoors and out, by men of the samurai class. This example has been taken apart so that you can appreciate the many pieces that make up the mounting.
They are:
Tsuba - Sword Guard
Hilt
Scabbard
Seppa (spacers)
Kokatana (utility knife)
Kogai (a pointed metal tool that splits to form chopsticks)
Habaki (a collar to ensure a tight fit of the sword into it's scabbard)
The mountings were made by master craftsmen of the Mino school using a unique Japanese metal called shakudo - an alloy of copper with a small amount of gold and traces of 'mountain metal' (raw copper). This was then inlaid with designs of flowers in gold.
Along the cutting edge of the blade you can see a 'wave pattern', or hamon, in the grain of the steel. Along the back edge of the blade a stylized double-edged sword has been engraved, which is a Tantric Buddhist symbol.

Japanese Screen

Buddha

Vajrasattva

Skeletal Figurine

Deities

Trumpet of Human Bone and Silver

Tibet, 19th century AD
This trumpet, with a human thigh bone for the shaft, is of the type used in exorcisms.

Ceremonial Knife - Thailand

Pak Tai

The tortoise and the snake are a totemic symbol of Pak Tai, the king of the dark northern heavens. Pak Tai is the patron God of the Taoist martial arts sects based on Wudang mountain in Hubei province. He is one of the four heavenly kings.

Chinese pottery tiles

Monster mask From the Xiudingsi pagoda near Anyang, Henan province Tang dynasty.

Pottery wall tile decorated in relief with a fierce figure (possibly Pak Tai or an anthropomorphic phoenix deity) who has feet with two toes and hands with four fingers, fighting with a snake.
From the Xiudingsi pagoda near Anyang, Henan province Tang dynasty, 9th century AD.

The Four Heavenly Kings

The Four Heavenly Kings
also known in Chinese as Si Tianwang are considered guardians of the four regions of the cosmos.
They guard the north, south, east and west quadrants of the night sky and have both seasonal elemental and psycho-physical correspondences in addition to their directional significance.
Each holds an object of religious significance to member of the Chinese Buddhist tradition.

The Eight Taoist Immortals

Bronze mountain group of Shoulao and the Eight Taoist Immortals
Qing dynasty, 17th - 18th century AD.

Luohan

Seated Luohan
China, Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644
This seated Buddhist figure is made of iron and inscribed with the date 1494.

Budai

Stoneware figure of Budai under green and ochre glazes.
Henan province
Ming Dynasty, dated twentieth year of Chenghun (AD 1486)
Budai, the fat smiling monk, is an accretion of several legends. He is sometimes regarded as an incarnation of the Future Buddha, the Buddha who will follow Shakyamuni. It is in this role that Budai is placed in the entrance halls to temples and monasteries.