Rare 18th Century Lingam Singing & Talking Bowl – Close Perfect Pitch G#3

Antique Lingam Singing & Talking Bowl. Notes: G#3 & D5 (Throat & Sacral Chakras)

Weight 702 grams (1 lb 9 oz).  Size 16 x 9 cm (6 ¼ x 3 ½ inches)

This ancient bowl has a fabulous pulsating third octave G#3 (209Hz) fundamental with a long sustain when struck with a padded mallet or played around the rim with a suede ringer.  The G#3 rim note is quite close to perfect concert pitch and will readily progress to a powerful and piercing fifth octave D5 (593Hz) if desired, depending upon the pressure and speed applied to the ringer.  The note changes to the fifth octave D5 with a wooden ringer.

If struck with a padded mallet or played around the rim with a little water inside (using a suede ringer) it becomes a talking bowl and produces a variety of other-worldly sounds, particularly when rocked back and forth.  One needs to experiment with the water level to obtain the best effect.  Talking bowls are extremely rare and highly prized.  They are used by shaman as a gateway to other dimensions, to induce trance states, and to contact deities and ancestors.  This is only the second lingam I have encountered with talking abilities.

This bowl is believed to date from the 18^th Century and takes the high-sided Thadobati form with its fairly straight high-sided wall, flat bottom and sheered lip.  At its centre there is a nipple-like Lingam surrounded and defined by two sets of circles, matched by a navel or yoni underneath.  The walls are unusually fine, with multiple incised bands encircling the outer rim to form a decorative collar.  Unusually, it also features a ribbon of sacred or ritual cuts of a type associated with early singing bowls, but rarely, if ever, found on Lingams.

This extraordinary antique singing and talking bowl is structurally sound, clean and free of stains and blemishes, and has an aged patina and a golden bronze colour.

It has a primitive and unrefined look to it and the feel of great antiquity.

A padded striker and a double ended teak and suede ringer are included in the price.

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Listen: (3 struck notes and 2 played notes, suede ringer then wood).