Yak butter jar from the Himalayas

Dimensions: height 22.5 cm, diameter 11.5 cm.

In Nepal and Tibet, especially in the high mountains of the Himalayas, farmers stored milk and butter in wooden jars called yak butter pots or jars. Wooden jars with a raised rim, a relatively small opening and a lid were ideal for storing yak milk or butter. In addition, the jars were used for collecting 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 carry around, and large ones, which were used more as storage jars. But the smaller jars were also sometimes used for goat milk and to store yak butter.

They come in different shapes, including oblong 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 purpose. 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 cracked. You could repair them with metal pins. Nowadays, yak butter pots are made of metal or ceramic. Because of this, wooden yak butter pots fell into disuse. In the West, these old wooden pots are highly valued as home decorations, so those that have been preserved are now often bought up by merchants.

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