Rare Small, Thick & Heavy Antique Ultabati Singing Bowl – F4

This is an extraordinary bowl – one of only two of its kind in my collection.  It has the typical Ultabati body shape with its scooped shoulder and downward sloping rim but, unlike most Ultabati bowls this bowl is smaller, super-thick and heavy.  It’s almost as though a regular Ultabati bowl has been compressed and shrunken to become half its normal size and twice as thick!  

This bowl is likely to have been custom made to serve a particular purpose, not necessarily a musical one.  Personally, I would be tempted to use it as a container for sacred items such as rings, Mala beads, or phurba. 

The fundamental flickers between a middle octave F4 (337Hz) and a fifth octave B5 (1000Hz). It is best struck with a hard wooden ringer.  Rim play is possible but builds slowly.

This superior quality antique Ultabati bowl has a scooped shoulder, a grooved lip, and a thick downward-sloping rim.  There are multiple circles at its centre, and decorative bands high up on the inside wall and also around its outer shoulder.  The exterior wall was originally blackened but most of this has been worn away with the passage of time.

It is in fabulous condition and has great aesthetic appeal!