Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
PROPERTY FROM THE NOBLE SILVER COLLECTION
Lot 328
A SILVER BETEL BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE SAMA JATAKA LOWER BURMA, FIRST QUARTER OF THE 20TH CENTURY
22 March 2022, 09:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$22,812.50 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
A SILVER BETEL BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE SAMA JATAKA
LOWER BURMA, FIRST QUARTER OF THE 20TH CENTURY
15 3/4 in. (40 cm) high; 9 7/8 in. (25 cm) diameter;
57 troy oz (1,773 grams) approximate weight
15 3/4 in. (40 cm) high; 9 7/8 in. (25 cm) diameter;
57 troy oz (1,773 grams) approximate weight
Footnotes
This grand centerpiece produced for a Burmese patron was designed for the custom of betel chewing, widespread throughout Southeast Asia, and practiced by all socio-economic classes for over 2,000 years. Most commonly, hosts present betel quid to guests as a sign of hospitality and friendship. The betel quid contains three main ingredients: an Areca catechu palm nut; a Piper betel pepper plant leaf; and 'lime' paste (slaked lime, a mixture of calcium oxide and water). Additional ingredients may include tobacco, tree bark, black pepper, ginger, and other spices. This box, consisting of a lidded cylindrical container on an ornate pedestal, would have housed the ingredients, perhaps in quids prepared specially for the occasion.
Owning a silver betel box was an indicator of status in Burmese society, as the vernacular medium for such objects was generally lacquer. 19th- and early 20th-century portrait photography of Konbaung royalty, Shan chiefs (Saohpas), and top-ranking Burmese families often featured these boxes in the foreground. The present example's sculptural finial, with the traditional dress and blade fan of a Burmese court official, may also constitute a subtle symbol of status.
Few silver betel boxes survive with their original pedestals or ever had one produced. The present features a panoramic story board depicting scenes from the Sama Jataka around its foot, which is replicated through the same techniques, figural treatment, and landscape elements around the box's drum and lid. Further subjects from the jataka encircle the pedestal's ornate, pierced skirt. One of the final stories in the Buddhist Jataka Tales, the Sama Jataka is a favorite for its emphasis on loving kindness (maitri). Filial piety is also a key theme in this jataka, making it a popular subject in Burmese dwellings, where the didactic impact of decorative items can reiterate traditional familial values.
A celestial devotee, repeatedly pictured with his hands raised toward the viewer in the traditional gesture of greeting (anjali mudra), is used to bookend the various scenes in the box's drum. This figure is clearly inspired by thepanom guardian deities in contemporaneous Thai Bencharong porcelain (see for instance Art Institute of Chicago, 1923.575), revealing a broader set of cross-cultural Asian influences on Burmese material culture beyond that of the British.
Published:
Owens, Burmese Silver Art, pp.43 & 45, no.S9, fig.3.1.