Burmese Bronze Karen Rain Drum
AGE: Late 19th to Early 20th Century
CONSTRUCTION: – Bronze
DESCRIPTION: – Burmese Bronze Karen Rain Drum – four triple layered frogs on Tympanum, 3 small elephants on side at the base
HEIGHT: – 48.5cm
DIAMETER:– 60cm
WEIGHT:– 11.4 kg.
SOLD
#5013
Burmese Bronze Karen Rain Drum showing engraved decoration on the top and around the body of the drum with four triple layered decorative frogs on the Tympanum. These drums are also referred to as frog drums and have been used for hundreds of years in various tribal rituals in south East Asia, especially so among the Karen people of Thailand and Burma for a number of different ceremonial rituals such as encouraging spirits to bring rain and in funeral ceremonies to help the departed pass on to the afterlife.
These bronze drum originated during the Dongson culture, a bronze age culture in ancient Northern Vietnam during the later period of the Hong Bang Dynasty. The drums are highly prized by the Karen people of Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). These rain drums vary in style depending in which country they were made.