1532

Enquiry about object: 1532

    Your First Name (required)

    Your Last Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Your Country (required)

    Your Message

    Burmese Lacquered Letter Tube (Sa Dauk)

    Burma
    circa 1920

    length: 35cm

    Sold

    Provenance

    UK art market

    – scroll down to see further images –

    Cylinders such as this example were formed from cloth stiffened with lacquer and rolled to form a tube (Isaacs & Blurton, 2000, p. 87). One end is closed and the other has a removable cap. The tube is in black lacquer incised in grey with Burmese lion (thein) figures within cartouches and surrounded by stylised orchid motifs against a cross-hatched ground.

    Such cylinders were used to hold letters between senior monks, or official documents such as diplomas. Fraser-Lu (2000, p. 112) says that such document holders most probably were to hold documents written on dried, cut palm leaves.

    References

    Fraser-Lu, S., Burmese Lacquerware, White Orchid Books, 2000.

    Isaacs, R., & T.R. Blurton, Burma and the Art of Lacquer, River Books, 2000.

    Dozens of items are added to our website each month. Be among the first to know about them.
     
    Sign up to our monthly catalogue