Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

A SILVER TREASURE BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE VESSANTARA JATAKA LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1910 image 1
A SILVER TREASURE BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE VESSANTARA JATAKA LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1910 image 2
PROPERTY FROM THE NOBLE SILVER COLLECTION
Lot 340

A SILVER TREASURE BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE VESSANTARA JATAKA
LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1910

22 March 2022, 09:00 EDT
New York

US$25,000 - US$35,000

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

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 specialist

Ask about this lot

A SILVER TREASURE BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE VESSANTARA JATAKA

LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1910
The underside has a silversmith's insignia of a makara and an inscription, translated: "Po Kyaw's box".
5 7/8 x 13 1/4 x 7 7/8 in. (15 x 33.5 x 20 cm);
71 troy oz (2,207 grams) approximate weight

Footnotes

Rectangular silver containers were used in wealthy Burmese homes to store valuables such as jewelry, cigars, and dried delicacies. A linear sequence of framed vignettes from the Vessantara Jataka encompasses the sides, and an accomplished rendition of the story's inciting incident of unfettered charity embellishes the hinged lid. In the Vessantara Jataka, the bodhisattva who is subsequently reborn as Siddhartha Gautama perfects the virtue of generosity (dana). The act of giving earns relatively more karmic merit than other aspects of everyday lay Buddhist practice. Therefore, serving as a didactic reminder of revered Buddhist values within the household, the jataka is a fitting choice for a relatively large treasure box that would have likely held luxury items to share with others.

The box's lid depicts the bodhisattva as Prince Vessantara giving away his kingdom's highly prized white elephant, which brings rain, to a kingdom suffering from severe drought. The silversmith depicts the scene within a palatial audience hall teeming with attendees applauding Vessantara's selfless act; yet the prince is eventually regarded as excessively generous, he and his family are forced into exile. The box's sides depict him en route to his forest retreat, bestowing his chariot and horses, and then once settled, offering his children as servants to a Brahmin ascetic. Ultimately, Vessantara's actions are divinely rewarded and his family is reunited and recalled from exile. Compare the silver fillet edge's floral ornamentation to a cheroot box also in the Noble Silver Collection, and dated by inscription to 1911 (Owens, Burmese Silver Art, p.55-6, no.S145, fig.3.22).

Published:
Owens, Burmese Silver Art, pp.52-3, no.S86, fig.3.16-7.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

TÊTE DE BODHISATTVA EN STUC Ancienne région du Gandhara, IIIe-Ve siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN SCHISTE Ancienne région du Gandhara, IVe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDDHA EN SCHISTE GRIS Ancienne région du Gandhara, II-IIIe siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN STUC Ancienne région du Gandhara, IVe-Ve siècle

PANNEAU EN RELIEF EN SCHISTE GRIS REPRÉSENTANT POSSIBLEMENT LA GRANDE RENONCIATION OU L'INTERPRÉTATION DU RÊVE DE MAYA AU ROI SUDDHODANA Ancienne région du Gandhara, IIe-IIIe siècle

STATUETTE DE DIVINITÉ FÉMININE DEBOUT EN TERRE CUITE Inde, Période Maurya-Sunga, IIe-Ier siècle avant J.C.

STÈLE DE FIGURE DEBOUT TENANT UN ARC ET DES FLÈCHES EN GRÈS ROUGE Inde centrale, Madhya Pradesh, Style Khajuraho, XIe siècle

IMPORTANTE STATUE DE DÉESSE EN BRONZE Inde, Tamil Nadu, Période de Vijayanagara, XVI siècle

SANCTUAIRE DE SURYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE Inde, Bengale, Période Pala, Xe siècle

STÈLE DE VISHNU EN PIERRE NOIRE Inde occidentale, Rajasthan ou Gujarat, circa XIIe-XIIIe siècle

STÈLE EN PIERRE NOIRE REPRÉSENTANT DURGA TUANT LE DÉMON MAHISHA Bangladesh, XIe-XIIe siècle

STATUE DE DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE AVEC TRACES DE POLYCHROMIE Inde, province d'Assam, XVIIe siècle

POIGNARD EN ACIER DAMASQUINÉ D'OR, KATAR DJAMADHAR Inde, moghole, Rajasthan, XIXe siècle

CLOCHE RITUELLE EN BRONZE Indonésie, Java, XIe siècle

RELIQUAIRE EN BRONZE Thaïlande, Sukhothai, XIVe-XVe siècle

BUSTE DE BOUDDHA COURONNÉ EN TERRE CUITE Thaïlande, Haripunjaya, XIIIe siècle

GRANDE CLOCHE DE TEMPLE EN BRONZE Daté de 1206 de l'ère birmane, ou 1844

ÉPÉE À POIGNÉE EN ARGENT NIELLO, DHA, ET SON FOURREAU Birmanie, XIXe siècle

STUPA EN ARGENT Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVIIe siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVe-XVIe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDDHA MARAVIJAYA COURONNÉ EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ Nord de la Thaïlande, époque Lan Na, XVIe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ Thaïlande, Bangkok, XIXe siècle

STATUE DE VISHNU CHEVALANT GARUDA EN BOIS SCULPTÉ Thaïlande, XIXe siècle

STATUETTE DE MANJUSHRI AVEC SHAKTI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ Népal, XVIIe siècle