PROPERTY FROM THE NOBLE SILVER COLLECTION A SILVER OFFERING BOWL WITH SCENES OF THE RAMAYANABY MAUNG PO KIN, LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1900 The underside marked with the elite silversmith Maung Po Kin's initials, "M.P.K.". 5 3/4 in. (14.5 cm) high; 9 in. (23 cm) diameter; 36 troy oz (1,120 grams) weight Muang Po Kin won the silver medal for metalwork at the international Delhi Exhibition in 1902-3. This exceptional offering bowl would showcase why. Sequenced in five scenes, the bowl depicts an episode from Book I of Valmiki's Ramayana , wherein King Dasharatha sends Prince Rama to slay the ogress Tataka who has been tormenting the sage Vishvamitra. Maung Po Kin adds definition to every vignette by way of a stippled background contrasting with his polished, rounded figures in high relief. However, the artist's creativity really shines through his imaginative scene dividers. Toppling stacks of water rapids evoke Rama's crossing of the Ganges and Sarayu rivers, and several gnarled trees overlapping on a diagonal register, incorporating European perspective, convey Rama's distance travelled in and out of Tataka's forest. Consistent with Valmiki's epic, Rama is shown hesitating before beheading the prostrating ogress because the act runs counter to his ethics of non-violence towards women. Yet, the sun blazing directly above her neck visualizes Vishvamitra's blessing and Rama's righteous enactment of the Dharma by laying the Tataka asunder. Maung Po Kin's inspired use of landscape elements to impart narrative demonstrates that while the Ramayana's popularity as a court dance drama may have more directly inspired the story's depiction on the greatest number of offering bowls, others were dedicated to the didactic representations from Ramayana literature which also experienced a great revival in poetry and prose in 19th-century Burma. Published: Owens, Burmese Silver Art , pp.78 & 174-6, no.S140, figs.3.61 & 4.108-13.