
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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US$8,000 - US$12,000
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director
The Noble Silver Collection began with the acquisition of this bowl depicting scenes from the Sama Jataka. Visual delight and intrigue induced the rather impulsive purchase, but an interest in deciphering such narratives sustained a continued passion for collecting Burmese silverwork.
The Sama Jataka's linear narrative was an ideal subject for silversmiths. Arranged into ten landscaped vignettes, the bowl shows: the ascetic couple to whom the miraculous birth of the bodhisattva was a boon; his caring for them after they were poisoned and blinded by a serpent; his mortal wounding by a hunter-king, and that king's show of remorse before grief-stricken parents; and finally the divine intervention of a local goddess who resurrects the bodhisattva, rewarding the loving-kindness both he and his parents demonstrate throughout the story.
Published:
Owens, Burmese Silver Art, p.68, no.S1, fig.3.46.