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Burmese
Votive food container (Hsun-ok) (early 20th century)
lacquer, wood, bamboo
(a-b) 74.2 × 37.5 cm diameter (overall)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of John McCarthy in memory of Edwin and Margot McCarthy through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2012
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Votive food container
(Hsun-ok)
(early 20th century)
Medium
lacquer, wood, bamboo
Measurements
(a-b) 74.2 × 37.5 cm diameter (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of John McCarthy in memory of Edwin and Margot McCarthy through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2012
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Known as hsun-ok, lacquer vessels of this type are used in Burma for carrying offerings to monasteries, where they are presented to monks, thus earning spiritual merit for the donor. The trays inside hold a variety of food and donations, including rice, fruit, eggs, curry, condiments and quids, chewable portions of leaves from the betel plant. Most Burmese households would have owned at least one hsun-ok. Burmese lacquer wares are made of woven bamboo and/or wood coated with many layers of lacquer from the Melanorrhoea usitata tree, and decorated in a variety of techniques, including incised patterns, relief moulding and sculpting.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Burma
Accession Number
2012.67.a-b
Department
Asian Art
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation