656 - Six opium weights, Hintha and Karaweik birds, bronze, market weights, probably Thailand/Burma

Six opium weights, Hintha and Karaweik birds, bronze, market weights, probably Thailand/Burma Bronze, six opium weights, probably Thailand/Burma, five in the form of a Hintha bird with crest of feathers, curved beak and raised tail, one of Karaweik type, each on a base, in three sizes, 1) Hintha, base with encircling band of lines, dark patina, weight 317 g, 2) Hintha, base with incised lines, dark patina, weight 318 g, 3) Hintha, brass-coloured surface, round base, weight 317 g, 4) bird of Karaweik type with pointed beak, multi-pointed crest and upswept fan tail, green patina, weight 155 g, 5) Hintha, angular base with incised lines, black patina, weight 158 g, 6) Hintha, smallest piece on round base, dark patina, weight 81 g, condition commensurate with age, partly rubbed, age patina, H. 4.5 to 7 cm Animal weights of non-ferrous metal served in Burma from the 14th century as market weights for weighing opium, precious metals and gemstones; in the literature and among collectors they have become established under the name opium weights. The graduated sets range from the smallest weight up to around 1,600 g; reckoning was in tical, also called kyat, with ten tical corresponding to about 164 g. The Hintha, also called Hamsa, is the bird figure of these trade weights; the Karaweik bird can be recognised by its pointed beak, crest with three points and raised tail feathers. In Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, too, animal weights were cast after the Burmese model following the Burmese conquest of the Lanna kingdom in the 16th century. With the British colonial period, simple iron weights and coinage replaced the figural trade weights.