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Gift of Bruce and Kathy TomsonLabel
These types of bronze weights are referred to (often inaccurately) as “opium weights.” Produced as early as the fifteenth century in Burma (now Myanmar), Laos, and Thailand, such objects traditionally were used to weigh a variety of high-valued tradeable goods, not just opium. Weights such as this are often crafted in various animal forms, which are symbolic in meaning. The bird-like examples are possibly “hintha weights” that allude to Hamsa, a goose deity in Buddhism and Hinduism representing spiritual purity and gentleness. The elephant weights reflect the animal’s important status throughout Southeast Asia.Label Type
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Label written by Jared Nachimson, ‘27.