Enquiry about object: 10496
Burmese Silver Tray
Burma (Myanmar) late 19th century
length: 30.1cm, width: 12.1cm, weight: 297g
Provenance
private collection, England
This unusually fine rectangular silver Burmese tray is decorated, in high relief, with a central scene of a figure holding a sword and with three groups of figures on either side, plus a smaller cartouche on each side with two more figures each. All are luxuriantly attired in traditional Burmese dress.
The scenes are separated by dense thickets of entwined scrolling foliage and vines.
It is not clear which scenes are being portrayed but it is probable that they are from the Ramayana, a popular source of inspiration for colonial Burmese silversmiths.
The tray has a finely pierced outer border of scrolling foliage, and with a crenulated edge.
The tray is in excellent condition.
References
Fraser-Lu, S., Silverware of South-East Asia, Oxford University Press, 1989.
Fraser-Lu, S., Burmese Crafts: Past and Present, Oxford University Press, 1994.
Green, A., Burmese Silver from the Colonial Period, Ad Illisvm, 2022.
Owens, D.C., Burmese Silver Art: Masterpieces Illuminating Buddhist, Hindu and Mythological Stories of Purpose and Wisdom, Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2020.
Tilly, H.L., The Silverwork of Burma (with Photographs by P. Klier), The Superintendent, Government Printing, 1902.
Tilly, H.L., Modern Burmese Silverwork (with Photographs by P. Klier), The Superintendent, Government Printing, 1904.
