PROPERTY FROM THE NOBLE SILVER COLLECTION A SILVER OFFERING BOWL WITH SCENES FROM THE MAHAJANAKA JATAKALOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1925 5 1/4 in. (13.5 cm) high; 11 3/4 in. (30 cm) diameter; 40 troy oz (1,242 grams) weight Burmese Silver Ceremonial Offering Bowls Produced in great numbers, the finely decorated ceremonial offering bowl is the quintessential Burmese silver artwork. Its simple geometry follows the shape of traditional alms bowls carried by Buddhist monks. Its function in the home was versatile – the offering bowl served as a vessel for temple offerings; as a storyboard for teaching and reinforcing ethical values and spiritual wisdom; as a display of wealth and status; and to simply please the senses when filled with tropic flowers. However, in contrast to Burmese silver made for Europeans, who were accustomed to hallmarks, most of the silver made for native residents went unsigned, as such a mark would quite likely have been interpreted as a distasteful display of vanity. Instead, it was the owner's name that would be inscribed, for pragmatic religious reasons. In Theravada Buddhism, the offerings made to monasteries, temples, and shrines generate karmic merit for the donor, and the monetary value of the container used was in part proportionate to the amount of merit earned. Additionally, a highly valuable silver bowl would be lent tomunity relatives and friends to make offerings themselves, which would generate merit for both the borrower and the owner of the bowl. Therefore, Burmese silver offering bowls were prized and shared, then returned to their rightful owners whose names were inscribed underneath. The Mahajanaka Jataka In the Mahajanaka Jataka , the bodhisattva who is later reborn as Siddhartha Gautama perfects the virtue of vigor ( virya ). Opening with a war and ending with the bodhisattva's reign of 7,000 years of peace, the jataka's representation in Burmese silver never disappoints in providing a great visual spectacle of caparisoned war elephants and cavalry, and sometimes even a wreck. The Mahajanaka Jataka is a story about the restoration of rightful rule. The jatakas in Burma extended beyond the temple or household and into the political and public spheres. The penultimate king of Burma, Mindon (r.1853-78), urged his ministers to behave like their counterparts in the jatakas, identifying the last ten jatakas (including Mahajanaka ) as particularly informative. The revival of Buddhism was a matter close to Mindon's heart, and his new capital Mandalay, founded in 1857, became the spiritual center of Theravada Buddhism (Bechert & Gombrich (eds.), The World of Buddhism , 1984, p.148). The defeat of Mindon's successor at the end of the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885 and the subsequent British occupation of Burma inspired another religious revival. Buddhism was an essential feature of the Burmese Resistance Movement (1885-95) and Nationalist Movement (1900-