
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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US$18,000 - US$22,000
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director
As Shaw notes, the Sama Jataka "is beloved throughout Southeast Asia for its portrayal of loving kindness (maitri)... This quality is imbued with a magical power beyond even that of the higher knowledges (abhinnas) in Buddhism. It apparently achieves the impossible: the revival of the dead" (Shaw, The Jatakas, 2006, p.275).
Embellished with fine, lace-like details, this offering bowl features multiple layers of decorative motifs, including bands of lotus buds, deer, scrolling acanthus, and geometric patterns. The tallest, central band depicts ten key scenes from the Sama Jataka. The refined miniature scale of each figure adds a Fabergé-like feel to the bowl. Each scene is divided by a pair of intertwined serpents (naga) framing the bust of a celestial devotee, clearly inspired by thepanom figures in contemporaneous Thai Bencharong porcelain (see for instance Art Institute of Chicago, 1923.575).
Published:
Owens, Burmese Silver Art, p.89, no.S127, fig.3.81.