This book is an exploration of animal-shaped weights from Burma (Myanmar) and northern Thailand (Lanna). Well-illustrated with many examples of animal-shaped weights and their marks, the volume includes a useful bibliography and index.
Leif Bering Mikkelsen categorises the weights into six relatively homogeneous groupings: Mon, Pyu, Burmese, Shan, Arakan(ese), and Lanna. He also provides an overview of historical events, centred on Bayinnaung's sixteenth-century administrative reforms, which Mikkelsen believes directly impacted the production and development of animal-shaped weights. This is followed by a discussion of their symbolism and the problem of forgeries.
Cast using the lost wax process, these weights consist of two main elements, an animal-shaped handle depicting a bird, lion or elephant, and a large globular, rounded or angular base. Frequently the base contains a validation mark, either cast, stamped, engraved, or stippled into its surface.
Referring to these objects as ‘opium weights’ romanticises as well as obscures their actual function, as they were official balance-scale weights used in marketplaces throughout much of mainland Southeast Asia. Available sources, chiefly accounts by European travellers, emissaries and merchants, suggest that animal-shaped bronze weights were prevalent from the sixteenth to early twentieth centuries. Archaeological finds may eventually extend their use to the twelfth century or earlier.
There are no known administrative records describing their control or production. Consequently, the precise dating of these animal-shaped weights has long proven problematic. Writing in 1898, Sir Richard Carnac Temple (‘Burmese standard weights’, Indian Antiquary) could not secure consistent information about when the different designs were manufactured nor for what purpose, at the beginning of a new reign, for example, or to celebrate the king's birthday.
More recent authors have faced similar obstacles to dating the weights. The task has not been made easier by the increased prevalence of forgeries intended to deceive collectors. Further, there is a lack of consensus regarding the proper analysis of metallic composition, style, patina, wear, and the like.
The most widely held assumption by collectors today is that the weights can be dated based upon the mass of the kyattha/tical unit they embody. This, in essence, is the approach used by Donald and Joan Gear in their influential Earth to heaven: The royal animal-shaped weights of the Burmese Empire (Silkworm, 2000/2002), and followed with modifications by subsequent authors (see below).
Mikkelsen adopts a similar approach to dating the animal-shaped weights, beginning with the assumption that weights of a lighter mass unit standard are earlier than those displaying a greater mass standard (table on p. 75):
Unfortunately, Mikkelsen's conclusions about dating and motivations for changes in weight standards are based upon unproven assumptions about political control and not upon historical documentation, thereby severely reducing the utility of this volume for collectors and researchers.
Like many self-published books, the volume suffers from a lack of proper editing, made more pronounced by the fact that the Danish author is not a fluent writer of the English language.
Another drawback to this otherwise attractive volume is that no sources or collection details are given for the objects illustrated. Also, individual descriptions are incomplete, making it difficult to compare specimens of the same type, weight and marking.
The Opium Weights Archive online (opiumgewichte.com) covers much of the same material as this volume. Multiple images of each animal weight are provided, their weight in grams, and often a standard reference for comparison. An active forum for online discussions about the weights, hosted by Galerie Michael Herrfurth, of Essen, Germany, is also available. Two further references are Joachim Gabel, ‘Lao weights and the luang symbol’, Journal of the Siam Society 97 (2009), and Hartmut Mollat, ‘A model chronology of the animal weights of Burma (Myanmar)’, Anthropos 104 (2009).
