container
- Museum number
- 2008,3031.1
- Description
-
Silver cylindrical document container, made in Burma and presented to Mr M. A. Maybury of the Burma Civil Service, and Mrs Maybury in 1947 by the Favourite Dramatic Society, of Mergui, on their departure from Burma at Independence.
The silver case is heavily decorated in repoussé, especially at each end where four cartouches contain chinthe on a stippled ground. The shaft of the container is also decorated with a major cartouche depicting a ploughing scene with, in the background, the planting of rice. The other main cartouche on the shaft bears an inscription 'Presented to M. A. Maybury, Esqr., M.A., B. C. S. (I), and Mrs. E. D. Maybury in recognition of their philanthropic services in Mergui, from 1945 to 1947 by the members of The Favourite Dramatic Society, Mergui.' Inside are documents, hand-written and typed, of speeches given at various functions that marked the departure of the Mayburys from Burma; these include a Loyal Address from the Indian and Chinese communities in the city, as well as documents relating to the Dramatic Society.
- Production date
- 20thC (early)-20thC (mid)
- Dimensions
-
Length: 37 centimetres (including terminals on lids)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Burma has a significant history over at least two centuries of silver vessel-making using a high repoussé technique. Other examples exist in the BM collection, especially of the very distinctive large bowls used, even to this day, for the collection of alms at monasteries and pagodas. The present example belongs to a sub-set of this genre that was well-developed in the colonial period – vessels used as commemoratives to mark the retirement or end of service in Burma, of individual members of the colonial service. In the BM collections there is certainly one other item of this type, a casket presented to a railway engineer, Norman Carnell, on his move, in 1909, to the State Railway of India (registration number 2003. 10-1. 1). Such inscribed and precisely located items (the present one associated with Mergui in Tenasserim; the casket with Rangoon) makes them useful indicators of the continuity – and also change – in style of such distinctive items of Birmanica.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 2008
- Acquisition notes
- Presented to the father of the donor, on his departure from service in Burma in 1947. Inherited by the present owner from his parents, M. A. Maybury, Esqr., M.A., B. C. S. (I), and Mrs. E. D. Maybury.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 2008,3031.1
