Tibetans

Tea

酥油茶 sūyóuchá. The base is compressed 边销茶 biānxiāochá made in Ya’an, 康砖 kāngzhuān and 金尖 jīnjiān: the brick is broken up, boiled for a long time in a pot with a pinch of soda, the broth is poured into a narrow wooden churn 董莫 dǒngmò, a piece of butter and salt are added, and a plunger-stirrer 甲洛 jiǎluò is worked up and down until the fat is incorporated and the drink turns homogeneous. It is drunk all day, the cup never emptied to the bottom: the hostess tops it up with every sip. Amdo, Kham, Ü-Tsang — Qinghai, western Sichuan, Tibet AR.

Headwear

A working winter fur hat of a Tibetan nomad (cut 狐皮帽): a solid low ring of dense short fur in a hazelnut-brown tone, twice as wide as the skull, closed without a gap; set inside the ring is a seamless, slit-free low crown of dark smoky-ochre cloth, like a flat island. No flaps, no pendants, no insignia. The accent is a narrow leather strap around the base of the crown, with a single dried dark-chestnut tea leaf tucked flat under it.

Object

The stirrer shaft 甲洛 has moved from the crown to the belt: a thin stick of dark turned wood with a perforated disk near the top is tucked diagonally under the wide sash, the disk sitting above the sash edge; streaks of hardened butter run down the shaft, swollen tea leaves cling in the disk’s holes — a working tool at the butter tea station, while the wooden bowl in its cover remains at the belt.

Clothing

A sheepskin chuba with the fur inside, the right sleeve dropped and tucked under the wide sash, high boots on felt soles. At the belt, a wooden cup in a canvas pouch.

Palette

Hazelnut brown of the fur, smoky ochre of the cloth, oat tone of the chuba, dark wood of the shaft, pale speckle of butter.