Khmer Angkor Period Bronze Bowl | Impressed Band, Cambodia

Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Khmer Empire. A deep, round-bottomed bowl of cast leaded bronze, its walls rising from a gently tapered base to a slightly everted rim. Long burial has softened the surface and left a mottled patina of earthen brown and verdigris green. Beneath it, a faint band of impressed ornament still encircles the upper body. Bowls like this served both domestic and ritual purposes across the Khmer world, holding offerings, water, or food in temples and households alike. The leaded bronze suggests a vessel made for everyday use rather than courtly display, though the careful proportions and decorative band show the skill of Khmer metalworkers at the height of Angkor. Khmer bronzeworkers were renowned across mainland Southeast Asia for their mastery of the lost-wax technique and for alloys deliberately enriched with lead, which lowered the casting temperature and improved the flow of metal into thin-walled forms. Vessels of this type recur in the material record of the Angkorian centuries, when the empire's reach extended across present-day Cambodia and into Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam. Stamped or punched ornament, applied while the surface was still workable, was a common alternative to the elaborate relief reserved for prestige objects. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 176311

Estimate:$300

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