Page 114 - Bonhams March 22 2022 Indian and Himalayan Art NYC

Sita's abduction is by far the most popular episode of the Ramayana portrayed in Burmese
silver, which might have been the result of innovations in stage design at the royal theater,
where Sita's aerial journey in Ravana's chariot was orchestrated with ropes and pulleys by
about 1885 (Kaung, "The Ramayana Drama in Myanmar", in Journal of the Siam Society, 90.1
& 2, 2002, p.144). Therefore, the popularity of this subject in silver may not wholly be due to a
particular resonance of the content within Burmese culture, but also to the dramatic impact of
its spectacle when performed onstage.

Informed by Ramayana literature, this silversmith depicts the scenes leading up to Sita's
abduction more comprehensively than is normally represented in silver offering bowls. He has
also inserted Sugriva and Hanuman much earlier than they typically appear in the narrative, at
least in Valmiki's Ramayana, foreshadowing their eventual involvement in retrieving Sita. These
and other didactic elements, like the inclusion of the slighted ogress Sooparanaka watching
Maricha distract Rama from afar, demonstrates an intent by the silversmith and patron to utilize
the bowl's larger-than-usual surface area to provide as complete a narrative tool as possible.
Meanwhile, the prominent architectural backdrops in the three initial scenes and the
accomplished use of competing registers, perspective, and arboreal dividers indicate that
the elite silversmith drew inspiration from painted representations of the Rama story in murals
or illustrated manuscripts. One such c.1870 Burmese manuscript in the British Library (Or.
14178) with scenes of Sita's abduction illustrates a similar – albeit less sophisticated – use of
compositional devices, while its depiction of Ravana's magical chariot in folio 10 is strikingly
similar (fig.1).
Bridging dramatic, literary, and pictorial retellings of the Rama story in Burma, this bowl
provides a rare insight into the broad array of mediums through which the Ramayana is woven
into the tapestry of Burmese culture.

Published:
Owens, Burmese Silver Art, pp.16 & 79-80, no.S106, figs.1.16-21 & 3.62.

Fig.1
Paper folding book (parabaik) with
illustrations to the Ramayana (Rama Zat)
Burma, circa 1870
530 mm x 220 mm
British Library, Or. 14178, f.10

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