Yak milk pot from the Himalayas

In Nepal and Tibet, especially in the high Himalayan mountains, farmers stored milk and butter in wooden jars called yak butter jars or jars. Wooden jars with a raised edge, a relatively small opening and a lid were ideal for storing yak milk or butter. In addition, the pots were used to collect milk during yak milking or for churning butter.

There are many different types and sizes of yak butter jars. There are small ones, which farmers could easily take with them, and large ones, which were used more as storage jars. But the smaller pots were sometimes also used for goat's milk and to store yak butter.

They come in different shapes, including elongated and narrow, or wide and round. We also have different sizes in our range.

Yak butter (also called “dri butter”) is butter made from the milk of yaks. Yaks are domesticated wild oxen that live at high altitudes in the Himalayas. Yak butter is also used to make the traditional drink yak butter tea (also called Tibetan butter tea, Boe jha, cha süma, goor goor cha, cha suskan). This is done by adding yak butter, salt and water to the tea. They usually use pu'erh tea for this. Especially in Tibet, many people drink this drink several times a day. It helps to stay warm and hydrated at high altitudes. Furthermore, yak butter is used in various meals.

Jars of yak butter used to be made of hardwood. Sometimes they broke or tore. You could fix them with metal pins. Today, yak butter pots are made of metal or ceramic. As a result, wooden yak butter pots fell into disuse. These old wooden pots are highly valued in the West as home decoration and that is why the pots that have been preserved are now often bought by traders.

Yak butter pots look great in rustic interiors. They are popular among interior stylists and you regularly find them in magazines. You can display them on their own or use them as a vase for dried flowers or branches.