Ywathaung village is located south of Sagaing. It is the home and the renown of a large number of highly skilled silversmiths who work the precious metal here according to the ancient traditions handed down to them by their ancestors. They are hammering out of silver the most beautiful products using ancient techniques and tools.
Every once in a while I read that Burmese silverware dates back to the 13th century, which is not true because the art of silverware was not developed by the Burmese or the Bamar, but rather they adopted it from others. According to historical records and archaeological finds, the so-called Burmese silver work was independently developed by Pyu and Mon. It has a long tradition dating back to the times of the Mon, who arrived in what is now Myanmar as early as 5,000 BC. C. and established settlements in what would later be southern Burma, in the Ayeyawaddy delta, in the southernmost part of the western coast (the Bay of Bengal), further down the Gulf of Martaban and between the Sea of Andaman in the west and the Dawna ranges in the east, as well as further south the Kyaikthalon ranges.
In 3,000 BC they founded their first Mon Kingdom and established the Golden Land of Suvarnabhumi. At this time the art of silverware was already highly developed there.
The art of working silver was also developed in the Pyu kingdoms along the western (Arakan) coast of present-day Myanmar, and eventually Pagan beginning in AD 957. Extraordinarily fine silver works created by the Pyu were found in the ancient shrines of Sri Ksetra.
During the reign of King Anawrahta (1044-1077) of the pagan kingdom, pagan silverware (i.e., that of the Burmese or Bamar) has been at a comparatively low stage of development. This (and many other things in Pagan) rapidly improved with the arrival of highly skilled Mon craftsmen and artists after their capital Thaton was sacked by Anawrahta forces in 1057.
The Mon silversmiths raised the art of creating silverware in Pagan (Bagan) to a whole new level. Today, the artistic creation of silverware is one of the ten traditional arts and crafts (pan se myou) and belongs to the Art of Creating Gold and Silver Items (ba dein) genre. However, Burmese silversmiths are better craftsmen than artists because they are creating exact copies of ancient objects and motifs. In other words, your job does not include or require any design skills.
High-quality silverware of various sizes created by Ywathaung silversmiths, including Buddha images, silver votive offering bowls with and without stands and lids, water, flower and fruit bowls, trays, goblets, tableware, bags women’s handbags, including shoulder bags (made of fine woven silver threads), as well as spoons, forks, knives, bracelets, rings, earrings, and the hilts and scabbards of swords and daggers; all like art and beautifully decorated with traditional ornamental and figurative motifs depicting, for example, stories from the Ramayana (recounting the life of Prince Rama and his wife Sita), battle scenes, the life of the Burmese, etc. All of these works are pure craftsmanship created with often quite simple tools and without any modern machinery. The main methods applied to produce silverware are hammering, embossing, casing, casting, inlaying, gilding, and wire drawing.
Burma Silverware has international recognition, a prominent place in the world and now as always the pride of Burma. In case you are interested in Burmese silverware, Ywathaung Village is the place to buy it because most, and best, of it comes from here.