Large, Unique & Wonderful 18th Century Lingam Singing Bowl – a Treasure!

This glorious, rare, and ancient Lingam Singing Bowl is simply a one-of-a-kind treasure!  Its rare and beautiful form is embellished with deeply incised artwork both inside and out.  It has a graciously curved slightly-globular wall leading to a smallish flat bottom without a navel.  The triangulated and deeply grooved lip is a real feature, as are the boldly incised decorative lines encircling the inner and outer rim.  Unusually, there are pairs of decorative lines at intervals all around the outer wall.  At its center there is a magnificent large golden lingam surrounded and defined by 3 sets of circles.

The sheer beauty of this bowl is matched by a wonderful voice.  The fundamental near perfect pitch note flickers between a third octave F#3 (189Hz) and a third octave G3 (192Hz) when struck with a padded mallet or played around the rim with a suede ringer, when the G3 is slightly more dominant.  The rim note changes to a fifth octave C#5 (564Hz) with a wooden ringer.

This bowl is believed to date from the 18th or early 19th Century, and is supplied as found, uncleaned with its history intact.  It has a fabulous aged patina that would be a sin to remove.  It is in superb structural condition with an attractive dark brownish-black colour with hints of gold beneath.  

This is undoubtedly one of the rarest and finest antique lingam singing bowls in the world today, and would grace any collection.  I also consider it to be a sound investment.  The price includes a large padded mallet and a heavy suede ringer.

A treasure – a personal favorite that is difficult to part with.  Buy it if you can!

Antique Lingam Singing Bowls are sacred musical vessels and the rarest and most sought-after of all Himalayan bowls.  They typically have diameters of between 5 and 7 inches (23 to 28 cm).  Very occasionally one of 9 or even 10 inches will come to light, but anything larger is virtually unheard of!