Tibetan Flint Striker

Most adult Tibetan men carried pouches like this one to carry their flint and tinder. They used these stones to start fires for their evening meals or light their pipes. The bottom of the pouch has a silver plate that was used to strike the flint. Flint pouches typically utilitarian objects but this one, clasped in finely cast silver, is unusually elegant and was likely to have been owned by a wealthy Tibetan man.