Burmese Food Container

An extremely rare Htamin Jaint, stacked lacquered cylindrical food containers, with hintha/hamsa designs in thayo lacquer and decoration over a cinnabar colored base. Htamin (rice in Burmese) is the base for a glutinous rice dish flavored with turmeric, salt, onion and sesame which is still eaten in Myanmar. The form of this food container was originally imported from India, but it spread fast in Burma due to its practicality. The Hamsa bird in Burmese folklore is an aquatic bird similar to a duck or a goose, and it is highly symbolic in Burmese and Hindu mythology. The bird is mentioned in the epic Hindu love story of the Ramayana; and hintha/hamsa is also the symbol of the Mon people in the Bago region of Myanmar.