Rare Small Antique Mani Singing Bowl – Concert Pitch C6 & Inscri

Rare Antique Mani Singing Bowl.  C6 Note (Root Chakra)
Weight 1 lb 14 ½ oz (864g).   13 x 7 cm (approx. 5 x 2 ¾ inches)

This little antique Mani Singing Bowl is unusually heavy for its size; almost double the average although it looks no different.    It has all the typical characteristics of this ancient bowl form…flat bottom, bulbous tapering walls, wide inward-facing grooved lip, and decorative banding.  The bowl is in excellent structural condition and all its original incised decoration remains clearly defined.

It is very responsive and unusually easy to play for this type of bowl.  The fundamental note is a penetrating sixth octave C that is virtually concert pitch…very uncommon.   As with all Mani bowls the struck and played notes are the same.

Antique Mani or Charma bowls are generally thought to be between 200 and 400 years old and are now very rare.  This particular bowl is very unusual in that it carries a dated inscription, something I’ve not seen before.  The inscription is sandwiched between a number 4 (possibly bowl 4 in a set) and a date shown as 10-3-29.  We do not know the century to which it refers, but it is likely to be the birth date of a former owner or perhaps the date when the bowl was inscribed, and not the age of the bowl which is likely to be much older.  In any event the inscription alone suggests that this was an important and significant bowl to a former keeper!  It is the first inscription I have come across on a Mani bowl.

This is an interesting and very nice example of this ancient bowl form, with an excellent concert pitch voice.

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

{audio}mani864c.mp3{/audio}

Listen: (2 struck notes and 1 played note)

SOLD