Lot comprised of twelve bronze opium weights of different sizes, in the form of dragons with incise detail decoration. Opium weights were used throughout Burma, Laos, and Thailand to measure the weights of valuable trade goods. While the smallest weights were generally reserved for opium, the weights were also used for other commodities such as silver ingots and precious gems.

Largest Size: 1 1/2 x 2 x 1 1/2 in. 

#2940 #2 . 

Animal shaped metallic weights have been around for thousands of years, and although it is difficult to pinpoint their origins, or when they began to be used specifically as opium weights, those in particular seem to have first appeared in what is now the nation of Burma. Archaeological excavations in Central Burma near a Pyu period settlement dating back to 100-400 A.D. uncovered two small brass sculptures resembling a duck and a lion with identically shaped bases in slightly different sizes. Although it is impossible to conclusively say that weighing heroin is what these pieces were used for, there are several documents written starting in the 11th Century regarding weights and their uses, particularly under King Anawratha, the first king of Burma. Temples were built according to strict measurements, and by the Golden Age of Burma under the reign of King Kyanzitha (1084-1112) there was an official system of measurement for every part of the country. A palm leaf manuscript discovered in Myanmar in 2010 was written by the administrator to King Alaungpaya in the 18th Century, and marks the first written evidence that weights were standardized in animal shapes, even stating that they had been so as far back as the 13th Century. The manuscript lists the chicken, stork, stag, elephant, goat, bear, heron, cat, and 8 other animals specific to the region that were used, although their associated weights fluctuated over the years. When the British occupied Mandalay in 1885, they attempted to introduce flat round iron weights to replace the stylized bronze ones. The beloved animal weights were kept in secret, and thus wound up used primarily for “illicit” trade, particularly associated with opium in the following decades. Today (unofficially) the pieces are still produced, ostensibly simply as items for the tourist trade, and not for the sale of drugs.