A GROUP OF TWO LARGE GILT-SILVER REPOUSSÉ-MOUNTED AND TURQUOISE-EMBELLISHED BURLWOOD 'DRAGON ROUNDEL' OFFERING BOWLS Tibet, 19th century or later (2)PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNERA GROUP OF TWO LARGE GILT-SILVER REPOUSSÉ-MOUNTED AND TURQUOISE-EMBELLISHED BURLWOOD 'DRAGON ROUNDEL' OFFERING BOWLSTibet, 19th century or laterEach burlwood bowl supported on a short stem foot and rising to an everted rim, the interior lined with sheet silver extending over the rim, the well applied with a turquoise bead set in a gilt-copper mount, the lower body and foot mounted with silver sheet worked in repoussé and chased details, the principal features picked out in gilt, one with a ruyi border enclosing a band of two gilt dragons and phoenix roaming amidst a foliate scroll, the base centered with a frontal gilt dragon amidst clouds within a further foliate scroll; the second, similarly decorated with a repoussé ruyi border enclosing a band of two gilt dragons prowling amidst floral scroll, the base with a frontal winged dragon picked out in gilt and surrounded by floral and foliate scroll. 7 3/4in (19.7cm); 7 1/4in (18.4cm) diam. (2).Provenance:Asian Private Collection, until 1988, by reputeAcquired from the above, 1988Water bowls are used in Tibetan Buddhist rituals to place offerings of water on the altar. Typically appearing in a group of seven, the bowls are organized in a row and filled with water each morning as offerings to the Buddha and bodhisattvas. This devotional practice is known as the Seven Water Offerings (mchod yon, or yon chab 'bul ba). The bowls can be made entirely of metal, or with a wood core and applied silver mounts, as seen in the present examples. The metal can be worked in a variety of techniques including repoussé, chasing, cast or pierced openwork, gilding, hardstone inlay, or a combination thereof, and the motifs tend to favor the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems', auspicious animals, lotus, and foliate scroll. For an overview of vessels used in Tibetan Buddhist offerings, see Michael Henss, Buddhist Ritual Art of Tibet: A Handbook on Ceremonial Objects and Ritual Furnishings in the Tibetan Temple, Stuttgart, 2020, p. 126. For contemporaneous water bowls executed with a silver body embellished with gilt-copper bands, see Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, A Shrine for Tibet, The Alice Kadell Collection, New York, 2009, p. 244, no. VI-10.