Burmese Repoussé Offering Bowl

This 18th century bronze vessel with tripod feet was crafted by hand in a traditional Chinese shape known as "ding," that dates back to 1600 BC. Tripod bowls were originally used for making religious offerings to ancestral gods. This ding is mounted on a finely carved hardwood...

This colorful porcelain bowl dates to the mid-19th century and was originally used as a serving dish for ritual offerings, placed before a home altar and piled high with fruit, baked...

This colorful porcelain bowl dates to the mid-19th century and was originally used as a serving dish for ritual offerings, placed before a home altar and piled high with fruit, baked...

Tibetan traveling shrines, known as Gau, were believed to offer protective powers and were used to hold and carry sacred objects during long journeys....

A SILVER OFFERING BOWL WITH SCENES FROM THE VIDHURA-PANDITA JATAKA, LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), DATED 1901. A hammered repoussé Buddhist beggar’s bowl form with high relief  design depicting scenes from the Vidhura-Pandita Jataka on the upper row of cartouches and beneath neat rows of semicircular lappets each depicting various auspicious human and animal forms with scrolling acanthus leaf backgrounds. The overall concept is similar to the layered effect of a Burmese court costume. The circular etched design on the base is of Punnaka astride his magical horse mid-stride holding the white umbrella and Vidhura pleading behind. All surrounded by an inscription, translated as, "Mr Saw Marn's silver bowl. Year 1263 [1901 CE]". Excellent condition. 11 3/4 in. (30 cm) diameter x 5 7/8 in. (15 cm) high. 38 troy oz., 2lbs. 10 oz. (1175 grams). Provenance: The Noble Silver Collection. Bonhams New York, 24 March 2022, The Noble Silver Collection Treasures from the Burmese Silver Age, lot 942. Published: David Owens, Burmese Silver Art: Masterpieces Illuminating Buddhist, Hindu and Mythological Stories of Purpose and Wisdom, 2020, p. 76, no. S81, fig. 3.57. Bonham’s Footnotes: In the Vidhura-Pandita Jataka, the bodhisattva that will later become Gautama Buddha perfects the virtue of truthfulness (sacca), at once a keen perception of the true reality of things and an unwavering commitment to imparting this truth. Reborn as a renowned advisor to a virtuous king, the bodhisattva uses undivided speech throughout the story—even when it puts him in harm's way—thereby preventing disputes among rulers, offering amnesty, and ultimately saving the antagonists who initially conspired to kill him. Burmese Silver Ceremonial Offering Bowls were produced in great numbers, the finely decorated ceremonial offering bowl is the quintessential Burmese silver artwork...

A small Chinese cloisonne enamel bowl made with the technique of Plique-a-jour (means "letting in daylight" in French), a challenging method similar to small scale stained windows...

Japanese Meiji period cloisonne bowl.

Egyptian hand-etched and repousse Mameluke style brass bowl. Could be used as a jardinière, cache pot for a large orchids composition. Engraved and hand-embossed with Arabic Islami...