119
FIG. 28 (above):
Ganesh figure.
Compressed powder, gilded
lacquer. H: 7.1 cm.
FIG. 29 (right):
Figure of an
unidentified nat.
Compressed powder, lacquer.
H: 9.6 cm.
FIG. 30 (right):
Guardian figure.
Compressed powder, lacquer.
H: 5 cm.
BURMA
saya’s pharmacopeia, alongside the nats, the bilu,
and other guardians. It should be noted that there
are many fakes of these objects, sold as souvenirs
around Inle Lake.
Also part of the shaman’s panoply are certain
atypical objects such as the wooden flute (fig. 11),
which according to U Than Tun was used to call
the soul-butterfly (leipbya) of a sick patient in
danger of dying. Equally unusual is the rare piece
of wood or root (fig. 20) decorated with a series
of sculpted figures and bearing signs of extensive
use on the back. Lacquered bamboo medicine receptacles
(fig. 40) decorated with a nat-bilu figure
and sometimes a sculpted lid are more often seen
and sometimes are erroneously confused with betel
boxes. A mortar and its pestle adorned with a
Zawgyi figure (fig. 23) are a reminder of the connection
between the quest for the elixir of longevity
and alchemical operations. Aniconic objects, bamboo
vials, and cones and cylinders made of compressed
golden powder abound but fall outside the
purview of these pages, which are devoted to figurative
objects.
AESTHETIC QUALITIES
The objects under consideration here were not
perceived of as works of art per se by those who
made them nor by those who used them. What
makes them sought after by all parties involved
and what gives them value is their efficiency. As
such, it comes as no surprise that with only a few
exceptions (figs. 16 and 41), they do not display
many of the characteristics we are accustomed to
seeing in classical Burmese art: refinement of line,
a gentleness of expression that sometimes borders
on the sentimental, and decorative exuberance.
There is nothing “pretty” or picturesque about
these often “brute” figures (figs. 27, 39, and 42)
that sometimes seem more akin to works of African
or Oceanic art (figs. 12, 13, 19, and 40) than
to the highly refined works of Burmese professional
sculptors.
These figures were produced in places distant
from modern urban centers and the ancient royal
and more recent colonial capitals, which may
account for their rustic and “primitive” appearance.
The hill- and mountain-dwelling Shan were
marginalized after the fall of the Shan Sagaing
and Pinya kingdoms in the second half of the
fourteenth century, and the partially tribal nature
of the people among whom these objects were
produced may be another factor in their unusual
appearance. A third factor may be the fact that
these were utilitarian and popular objects made of
fragile materials and, through use, were destined
for destruction.
FIG. 24 (below): Tattoo
needle with nat figure finial.
Brass. H: 39 cm.
FIG. 25 (right): Guardian
figure.
Compressed powder, lacquer.
H: 5.8 cm.
FIG. 26 (top right): Ogre
guardian figure with red
eyes.
Compressed powder, lacquer.
H: 5.3 cm.
FIG. 27 (right):
Vestige of an ogre figure
with prominent fangs.
Compressed powder, lacquer.
H: 4.8 cm.