CONTEMPORARY ORIENTAL FURNITURE STORE

Hsun Ok Burmese Lacquer Offering Bowl

Originally from Burma, the most graceful lacquer object used for ceremonial religious use is the hsun-ok or Stupa, a votive food receptacle, which at first glance resembles a Burmese pagoda.   The Stupa was used traditionally to carry food to a monastery and is still used today to carry food offerings to monks.

Stupas are made from strips of closely coiled bamboo, although those from the eastern Shan state are usually crafted from teak wood.  Stupas can vary in height from 25cm up to 2 meters, and the form of the Stupa is usually a wide, curved bowl and then a lid, with a soaring spire, said to resemble the pagoda.  Sometimes the spire of the Stupa is decorated with a small bird and this symbolizes “communication between heaven and earth”.  The interior of a Stupa can be divided into various compartments by trays.  The base of the bowl usually held rice or fruit, while the trays held curry or condiments.

Read more: Syvia Fraser-Lu

Burmese Lacquerware