A GROUP OF FIVE SILVER OPENWORK-MOUNTED BURLWOOD OFFERING BOWLS Tibet, 19th century or later (5)PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNERA GROUP OF FIVE SILVER OPENWORK-MOUNTED BURLWOOD OFFERING BOWLSTibet, 19th century or laterEach burlwood bowl supported on a short stem foot and rising to an everted rim, the interior lined with sheet silver extending over the rim, the lower body and foot mounted with silver crafted with openwork designs and further detailed in repoussé and chasing, including one centered with a flowerhead at the base framed by scrolling vines at the lower body, two with a dragon at the base and interlaced motifs at the lower body, one centered by a 'shou and bat' roundel at the base and an interlocking ruyi band at the lower body, and one centered with a 'dragon and phoenix' roundel at the base framed by a band of further dragons and phoenix at the lower body. 5 1/2in (14cm) diam. of largest (5).Provenance:Collection of Robert Stupp, by reputeTony Anninos, Los Angeles, 1982-1985Acquired from the above, 1985Water bowls are used in Tibetan Buddhist rituals to place offerings of water on the altar. Typically appearing in a group of seven, the bowls are organized in a row and filled with water each morning as offerings to the Buddha and bodhisattvas. This devotional practice is known as the Seven Water Offerings (mchod yon, or yon chab 'bul ba). The bowls can be made entirely of metal, or with a wood core and applied silver mounts, as seen in the present examples. The metal can be worked in a variety of techniques including repoussé, chasing, cast or pierced openwork, gilding, hardstone inlay, or a combination thereof, and the motifs tend to favor the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems', auspicious animals, lotus, and foliate scroll. For an overview of vessels used in Tibetan Buddhist offerings, see Michael Henss, Buddhist Ritual Art of Tibet: A Handbook on Ceremonial Objects and Ritual Furnishings in the Tibetan Temple, Stuttgart, 2020, p. 126. For contemporaneous water bowls executed with a silver body embellished with gilt-copper bands, see Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, A Shrine for Tibet, The Alice Kadell Collection, New York, 2009, p. 244, no. VI-10.