{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O10652"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10652/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM2915/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM2915/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM2915","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KA7319","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KX5078","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O10652/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O10652","accessionNumber":"02755 to C/(IS)","objectType":"Gold Reliquary","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This is a gold reliquary in the form of a hemispherical Buddhist memorial monument called a <i>stupa <i>or</i> cetiya</i> formed part of a gold desposit discovered in 1855 during the clearance of buildings at the foot of the Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon (then Rangoon). It is made of repoussé gold sheets and hollow to contain relics or further deposit.  An inscription in Pali links the deposit to a wife of the Mon King Rajadhiraja (r.1384–1421).","physicalDescription":"Reliquary in the shape of a stupa or cetiya (a Buddhist funerary mound), made in four parts: a dome, a finial (partly lost through damage), and two foliated tiers. A band of lotus-petal forms surrounds the base. Above these are square panels embossed with alternating designs of a lion and a flower, followed by another row of lotus petals alternating with a “mask of glory” (kīrtimukha) shown with its tongue outstretched. Three bands rise above this, meeting another row of petals leading onto the base of the dome. The dome and the finial, now mostly lost, are separated by a box (harmikā) composed of various rounded and squared forms incised with lotus-petal motifs. The reliquary is hollow and was likely made to contain the mortuary deposits of a notable monk or other individual. The high value of the materials and the quality of the craftsmanship suggest a royal context.\n\nThis reliquary was found alongside several other objects, including a gold headdress, 02758(IS), and a gold reliquary in the form of a lidded bowl, 02752(IS), during the clearance of buildings at the foot of Shwedagon Pagoda Hill in Yangon, Myanmar, for the construction of a British army barracks in 1855, following the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852–1853). The headdress and associated finds may relate to the funerary remains of a queen of the Mon king Rajadhiraj (or Razadarit), who reigned from around 1384 to 1420.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[{"text":"raising","id":"AAT237068"},{"text":"repousse'","id":"AAT54023"},{"text":"incising","id":"AAT53847"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gold, formed by raising and finished with repoussé and incised work","categories":[{"text":"India Museum","id":"THES286062"}],"styles":[{"text":"Mon","id":"AAT19089"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AM2915","2017KA7319","2018KX5078"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"47A","id":"THES49797"},"free":"","case":"CA016","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"47A","id":"THES49797"},"free":"","case":"CA016","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"47A","id":"THES49797"},"free":"","case":"CA016","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"47A","id":"THES49797"},"free":"","case":"CA016","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Pagoda","id":""}],[{"text":"Pagoda","id":""}],[{"text":"Part","id":""}],[{"text":"Pagoda","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Burma","id":"x30037"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Myanmar","id":"x30037"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 15th century","earliest":"1395-01-01","latest":"1504-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"02758(IS)","id":"O10654"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"02752(IS)","id":"O10650"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"India Museum transfer 1879","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"34.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"22","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Discovered by labourers in 1855 during the construction of a barracks near the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (then Rangoon), Myanmar, along with a gold headdress, 02758(IS), a gold reliquary in the form of a lidded bowl, 02752(IS), and several other objects. These items were sent  to Calcutta and then on to the East India Company's India Museum in 1856. They were exhibited at a meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society in June 1857 and  transferred to the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum) in 1879.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Reliquary in the form of a stupa, repoussé gold, Myanmar, 15th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sykes, Col. W.H. “Account of Some Golden Relics Discovered at Rangoon.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society  Vol. 17 (1860): 298–308.\r\n\r\nSinger, Noel F. “The Gold Relics of Bana Thau.” Arts of Asia (September/October 1992): 81.\r\n\r\nGuy, John. “Gold in Asia.” In Gold and Civilisation, exhibition catalogue, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 11 March – 24 June 2001, 169–191.  Illustrated p. 182.\r\n\r\nStadtner, Donald M. \"Rajadhiraj's Rangoon Relics and a Mon Funerary Stupa.\" Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 103 (2015): 63–88."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Col Sykes; F.R.S.;M.P.: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society;\r\n<font -u>Account of some Golden Relics discovered at Rangoon</font>; 1860;  p.298; ill"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jane Terry Bailey; <font -u>A Syllabus for a Course in Burmese Art</font>; Denison University, Granville, Ohio; 1968; p.47; Slide # 109"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Canberra: National Museum of Australia; <font -u>Gold and Civilisation</font>, Exhibition 2001; catalogue; p. 184; ill. 185"},{"reference":{"text":"burma to myanmar","id":"AUTH399604"},"details":"p. 97 and fig. 3.23","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Donald M. Stadtner, 'Rajadhiraj’s Rangoon Relics and a Mon Funerary Stupa,'<i> Journal of the Siam Society,</i> Vol. 103 (2015): 63-87.\r\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Lions","id":"x35172"},{"text":"floral","id":"AAT10135"},{"text":"foliate","id":"AAT165104"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Buddhist","id":"AAT73738"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Reliquary in the Form of a Stupa\r\nPossibly 1400–1700\r\nAlong with the headdress, this was excavated in 1855\r\nfrom a relic chamber at the base of the Shwedagon\r\nPagoda (literally ‘Golden Temple’) in Rangoon. Like other\r\nminiature stupas, it might have been a container for the\r\nashes of a respected monk, or it might simply have been\r\na ritual object.\r\nGold\r\nBurma (Rangoon\r\n(now Yangon))\r\nMuseum no. 02755(IS)","date":{"text":"14/06/2011","earliest":"2011-06-14","latest":"2011-06-14"}}],"partNumbers":["02755(IS)","02755A/(IS)","02755B/(IS)","02755C/(IS)"],"accessionNumberNum":"02755","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"India Museum Slip Book","id":"THES50388"},"number":"7592"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Pagoda [1]","Pagoda [2]","Pagoda [3]","Part"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-20","recordCreationDate":"1999-03-17","availableToBook":false}}