It occurs to us that the jester and his marotte came into existence circa the 14th century, but the Tibetan and his phurba trace back to the 8th century, so the marotte is (to our own satisfaction, at least) a great-grandchild of the phurba; the phurba's mundane origin as a tent peg and its mystical purpose "to transfix" both make it an obvious tool to be handed down through the ages to the medieval clowns.

Meanwhile, here's a jester's marotte in its natural state ("shabby chic"?), before its leaves and twigs are removed and it is sanded, stained, and varnished (poor devil).  We find this wild marotte in Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry by William Carleton (undated, but that's right because Irish lore is timeless).