Collector Alice Kandell enshrines Tibetan Buddhist artifacts at home

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Show Us Your Walls
By Ted Loos
Alice Kandell, surrounded by her collection of 17th- to 19th-century Buddhist art.Credit Daniel Dorsa for The New York Times
The story of how Alice S. Kandell discovered Tibetan Buddhist art sounds like the plot of a fanciful movie. These days, her Upper East Side apartment features around 250 objects, largely from Tibet. Many are bronzes depicting the Buddha and other deities. The collection includes household objects like teacups, too, and the bulk of the trove was made between the 17th and 19th centuries, what she called the high-water mark of Tibetan art. Most stunning is a dedicated shrine room that is richly layered with at least 100 pieces, including a ceremonial dagger, prayer beads and multiple bronzes, arranged as they might have been in a noble family’s home. [More]