Thai Silver Bowl Stand

Large, Engraved Silver Bowl Stand

This large silver stand for a bowl is of dramatic form, shaped as an open lotus bloom with fifteen crenulated petals. The wide rim has been very finely engraved with scrolling floral and leaf work against a tooled ground.

A well at the centre of the stand is where a bowl would have stood.

The stand sits on four feet shaped as fruits – a typical device in Thai silverwork. The feet are attached to the stand by means of small silver rivets that can be seen in the well of the stand.

The base is stamped with the same chop mark five times. It comprises a Chinese ideogram which reads as ‘Xiang Tai’, which is most likely a shop or maker’s brandname. The use of a Chinese name and letters suggests the stand was made by local Chinese silversmiths, most probably in Bangkok’s Chinatown area.

Related bowl stands or trays are illustrated in Naengnoi Punjabhan (1991, p. 178-9).

The item is in excellent condition.

Naengnoi Punjabhan, Silverware in Thailand, Rerngrom Publishing, 1991.

private collection, UK