Rare Large 9 ½ ” Antique Manipuri Singing Bowl – E3 & B4 – Ritual Cuts

Antique Manipuri Singing Bowl.   Notes: E3 & B4 (Solar Plexus & Crown Chakras)

Weight 1.09 kilos (2 lb 6 ½ oz).   Size 24 x 8.5 cm (9 ½ x 3 ¼ inches)

This is a rare and unusually large antique Manipuri Singing Bowl.  The fundamental note is a third octave E3 (169Hz) when struck with a padded mallet or played around the rim with a suede ringer.  The rim note changes to a powerful B4 (492Hz) with a wooden ringer.

It’s a top quality bowl with thick walls and a wide grooved lip, with circles at the centre, and multiple decorative bands encircling the outer rim. 

Of particular interest are the 4 pairs of ritual cuts across the lip at cardinal points.  They have been carefully placed well clear of the playing edge so that they don’t affect the sound in any way.   I believe ritual cuts such as these are made to initiate or sanctify the bowl in some way.  They are quite rare and generally only found on superior quality bowls such as this.

This interesting Manipuri bowl dates from around 1800 and is in good structural condition, free of stains but with patches of copper oxidization in places.  It has an aged patina and the look and feel of antiquity.

Antique Manipuri singing bowls were once the most common of all the bowl forms but are now seldom found, and bowls of this size and quality are virtually unknown.

A superb example of this antique bowl type!

A Tibetan silk brocade cushion and a double-ended teak and suede ringer are included in the price.

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Listen: (4 struck notes and 2 played notes, suede ringer then wood)