Tibetan musical deluxe bowl 11 cm, Tibetan engraving

Tibetan musical bowl gift set, origin Kathmandu, Nepal, size: 11 cm

The set contains: a bowl 11 cm + 1 wooden hammer + colored pillow + red gift box.

Making the bowls is a completely manual process. Each bowl is carefully carved into the right shape, going through several stages to achieve the correct shape and pure sound. First, different metals (copper, tin, iron, lead, gold and silver) are melted in a furnace. The molten metal is then drawn from the furnace and poured into a die, after which it is cut into discs of various diameters and thicknesses for further processing. The discs are then, after precise measurement and grading by weight, hand carved into the desired shape and size. About five discs are placed one on top of the other and heated red hot in the furnace, after which they are carved one at a time into a bowl shape using a die.

Specialist craftsmen can only do this when the metal is incandescent, because if it cools too much it becomes brittle and can develop cracks, rendering the bowl unusable. After the bowls take their rough shape, the finishing process begins. At this stage, each bowl is given its own shape and size, and again fine carving is required so that the bowl is red-hot again to get just the right shape and sound. After this, the bowls are individually sanded and polished on the outside and inside, and if necessary, carved to give them the final finish.