Tibetan »Tsa Tsas« [or »tsha tshas«] have played a minor role among Himalayan antiques compared to thangkas and statues. Due to their size and content, as well as the limited number of offerings, they have never attracted much attention from collectors. As a result, auction houses either do not include them in their auctions at all or include only a few lots. The prices achieved are also generally nowhere near the level of other Himalayan antiques.
If they were deposited in caves or rock niches by their donors, the Tsa Tsas made of clay or loam do not have a long lifespan due to the climatic conditions, which naturally reduces the supply of these tablets considerably. However, if Tsa Tsas were used to fill stupas immediately after their creation, they can survive undamaged for several hundred years. As air-dried Tsa Tsas usually only have a short lifespan, the vast majority of all Tsa Tsas are burnt.
In terms of content, Tsa Tsas are as interesting as thangkas or statues, as they share the same basis and variety of Buddhist iconography. The aforementioned lower market interest in old Tsa Tsas, with their currently still comparatively low prices, gives collectors the opportunity to add authentic old examples to their Tibetan collections. This is not possible with historical thangkas and even less so with the even more valuable genuine old bronze statues.
The »niche existence« of Tsa Tsas also has an advantage that should not be underestimated: there are virtually no forgeries! There would only be forgeries if the effort required was offset by a positive expected return and if there was a demand for them. This is not the case with Tsa Tsas. The production process, which is not simple, requires the availability of suitable stamp molds, material and knowledge of the difficult »production« process. It is therefore very rare to find offers of »doubles« on the Internet, which would be the case if dealers could offer their forgeries on the market with lucrative prospects of success.
In rare cases, however, identical Tsa Tsa may be offered several times. This is not necessarily an indication of a forgery, as the presence of the original stamps means that several examples of the same Tsa Tsa have always been produced. The younger a Tsa Tsa is, the more likely this is to happen. With increasing age it becomes less and less likely.
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