How to Identify an Authentic Antique Tibetan Singing Bowl

How to Identify an Authentic Antique Singing Bowl

By Isis James

Identifying and Choosing Genuine Antique Singing Bowls

There are a countless variety of singing bowls available on the market today - some being produced in recent times, while others are hundreds of years old. Antique singing bowls are valued for their quality, sound, and historical value. When looking to purchase a bowl, having adequate knowledge of how to identify a genuine antique will greatly aid you in your search to find something of value and true authenticity.

Appearance

Antique bowls generally tend to be simple and plain in appearance, with very little in the way of intricate designs or carvings. They may have abstract decorations like lines or circles on their surface, outside the rim, or inside the bottom of the bowl, but anything more complicated than that is likely a new bowl. Do not be fooled by bowls that look hard or rough on the outside - most likely, these are newly produced bowls that have been made to look old to fool the uninformed consumer. True antiques also tend to be an average size of 10-12 inches, and rarely any larger.

Material

Traditionally, antique bowls were made of 5-7 metals, including precious metals such as gold, silver, or iron. Many of these antiques do not have a perfect mix of metal alloys, making it common to see streaks or spots of one particular metal (like copper or silver) standing out more on the surface. Due to the cost of including precious metals in the production of singing bowls, modern ones tend to be made of only one metal, usually brass or bronze.

Sound

The sound quality of antiques can never be matched, because as the age of a singing bowl increases, the quality of the sound increases as well. Fine classic antiques have a very rich, warm and mellow sound to them, with strong resonant harmonic overtones. If a bowl sounds tinny, flat, or disharmonious, it is more than likely not an antique.

Identifying true antique singing bowls is not always an easy process, but with these simple guidelines to keep in mind, your search will become a bit easier.

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