Burmese Weights and Other Animal-Shaped Weights

These include: the role of weights in Asian cultures, the manufacture of weights using lost-wax casting, metal analysis of weights, counterfeit and regional weights, ‘weights’ used as amulets, weights produced more recently in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

This book describes the famous animal-shaped weights of Burma, sometimes misnamed ‘opium weights’. Described are previously unknown weights that first appeared in eleventh century Bagan (Burma), the totemic weights of the Ava kings, and subsequent weights in the form of the duck, fabled hintha, and the leonine chinthe and toe. Burmese kings controlled the production of weights, which remained in use throughout Burma until the end of the nineteenth century. Such weights in animal form could weigh anywhere from a fraction of a gram up to 60 kg. While these weights were vital in commerce, they were iconic for Burmese people. Animal-shaped weights spread to neighbouring lands, especially Thailand and Laos, where depiction of the elephant was prevalent. We explore the relevant weights of other lands, including the Ancient World, Ghana, India, China and Vietnam, where weights have distinctive and related forms. The book differs greatly from others, as it addresses a range of topics, often for the first time. The book is richly illustrated with over 450 colour illustrations.