Weight
ClassificationsTools and Equipment-weights
Date20th Century
Made AtLaos, Asia
MediumBronze
Dimensions3/8 × 1/2 × 1/2 in. (1 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Anne and Long Shung Shih
Object number2019.23.64
DescriptionThis weight would have been used with a balance beam scale to measure goods in Laos, Myanmar or Thailand. Due to the usage of these weights during colonial rule in the 18th and 19th Centuries, they are often referred to as "opium" weights. Contrary to what that name suggests, however, these weights were used to weigh a variety of commodities including metals, foodstuffs, medicines and more. These weights can have many shapes. In Myanmar they tend to have animal forms, but in Thailand and Laos the weights are generally geometric or, as is the case with this weight, stupa shaped.On View
Not on view
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