Page 94 - Bonhams March 22 2022 Indian and Himalayan Art NYC

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A SILVER TREASURE BOX WITH SCENES FROM THE VESSANTARA JATAKA
LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1910
The underside has a silversmith’s insignia of a makara and an inscription, translated: “Po
Kyaw’s box”.
5 7/8 x 13 1/4 x 7 7/8 in. (15 x 33.5 x 20 cm);
71 troy oz (2,207 grams) approximate weight
$25,000 - 35,000

Rectangular silver containers were used in wealthy Burmese homes to store valuables such as
jewelry, cigars, and dried delicacies. A linear sequence of framed vignettes from the Vessantara
Jataka encompasses the sides, and an accomplished rendition of the story’s inciting incident of
unfettered charity embellishes the hinged lid. In the Vessantara Jataka, the bodhisattva who is
subsequently reborn as Siddhartha Gautama perfects the virtue of generosity (dana). The act of
giving earns relatively more karmic merit than other aspects of everyday lay Buddhist practice.
Therefore, serving as a didactic reminder of revered Buddhist values within the household,
the jataka is a fitting choice for a relatively large treasure box that would have likely held luxury
items to share with others.

The box’s lid depicts the bodhisattva as Prince Vessantara giving away his kingdom’s highly
prized white elephant, which brings rain, to a kingdom suffering from severe drought. The
silversmith depicts the scene within a palatial audience hall teeming with attendees applauding
Vessantara’s selfless act; yet the prince is eventually regarded as excessively generous, he
and his family are forced into exile. The box’s sides depict him en route to his forest retreat,
bestowing his chariot and horses, and then once settled, offering his children as servants to a
Brahmin ascetic. Ultimately, Vessantara’s actions are divinely rewarded and his family is reunited
and recalled from exile. Compare the silver fillet edge’s floral ornamentation to a cheroot box
also in the Noble Silver Collection, and dated by inscription to 1911 (Owens, Burmese Silver
Art, p.55-6, no.S145, fig.3.22).

Published:
Owens, Burmese Silver Art, pp.52-3, no.S86, fig.3.16-7.

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