PROPERTY FROM THE NOBLE SILVER COLLECTION A SILVER CUP WITH SCENES OF THE MAHAJANAKA JATAKABY MAUNG KYWET NI, LOWER BURMA (MYANMAR), CIRCA 1880 In 'tamarind-seed' script, the cup's underside has an inscription, translated: "A cup made by Maung Kywet Ni of Moulmein." 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm) high; 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm) diameter; 8 1/2 troy oz (264 grams) weight Maung Kywet Ni was among the elite Burmese silversmiths who produced works for international exhibitions between 1875 and 1910 (see Wilkinson, Indian Silver 1858-1947 , 1997, p.36; name alternatively spelled "Maung Chwet Nee"). This small, detailed cup perfectly demonstrates why. The master silversmith portrays the war that opens the Mahajanaka Jataka with a barreling pile-up of infantry, canines, cavalry, and war elephants. Through his attention to detail and the advanced techniques at his disposal, he soldered tiny separately-cast silver elephant tusks, adding realism and depth to the scene. Shaw notes that in the Mahajanaka Jataka , where the bodhisattva perfects the virtue of vigor ( virya ), dichotomies of noise and silence pervade. It is tempting to read an aural sensitivity in Maung Kywet Ni'spositional dichotomy between the cacophonous battle on one half of the cup, and the airy palace housing only the recumbent bodhisattva (who subsequently ruled for 7,000 years of peace) on the other (cf. Shaw, The Jatakas , 2006, p.226). Published: Owens, Burmese Silver Art , p.117, no.S117, fig.3.149.