A PAIR OF BURMESE SILVER BOWLS

A pair of Burmese silver bowls on the original carved teak stands

These presentation bowls follow the shape of the traditional Burmese begging bowl (thabeik)

One of the bowls is repousse  worked with  various creatures from the Jataka tales including the mythical “Kinarra” – a person with wings that helps humans in the forest

The Jatakas are moralistic tales either from the life of Budda or from parables taught by the Buddha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jataka_tales

The other bowl is worked with scenes from daily life in 19th century Burma – see the elephant and the people working in the fields

The borders at the tops of the bowls and the lotus petal decoration carved on the bases follows the traditional style

The lion engraved on the base gives more information about the maker of the silver bowls and also limits the age to late 19th century

Amazingly this pair of Burmese bowls were found with the original stands – hand carved more than a century ago

A truly special display