Singing bowls have been made continuously for nearly one thousand years. We still have early examples that have withstood the test of time. Bronze is a very durable metal and can last for thousands of years. A singing bowl could be kept and still be played for over one thousand years before the metal is too advanced in age to play. While it seems amazing that any object can last for so long, cultures around the world still have bronze bowls which are much older.
Many ancient bronze bowls can be found in world museums, some over two thousand years old. One such ancient bowl can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is not very different from an antique singing bowl: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253643
Many types of bronze bowls were developed independently around the ancient world. We know from my metallurgical research that the singing bowls are related to two particular types of bowls. The earlier types were based on bowls from the 9th century and the later types were made from the 16th century.
These are by no means the oldest bronze bowls in the world. In fact, the singing bowls and the bowls they are related to are holdovers from a much earlier time. By the time the singing bowls began to be produced, the bronze age was long over.
Bronze starts to develop a very heavy crust after one thousand years. The heavy patina is very well developed by two thousand years to the point of corroding the metal unless it is kept in excellent condition.
I have examined two thousand year old bronze objects, some of which are still intact and some are very corroded. The difference is in the condition they are kept over time. Once bronze disease sets in, the metal will be gradually eaten away. If a smooth patina develops with no corrosion, the metal can stay in good condition for an incredibly long time.
As I have written about in my other articles, the molecular state of the metal changes over time, becoming more stable and brittle over the centuries. The metal therefore also becomes more fragile.
Under the normal aging process I have seen in other bronze objects, I would expect the condition of the metal to become too patinated and fragile to play after two thousand years. By that time, the metal would have at least areas of heavy crust preventing the metal from vibrating. The state of the metal would also be so advanced that it may be too stable and brittle to vibrate any more.
We do not yet know because there are no singing bowls old enough to test the limits of bronze longevity. The oldest singing bowls are still younger than one thousand years old but in these very old examples, we can see the changes that the metal has gone through already. The character of the sound is entirely different from a new bowl and this is due to the aging process itself.
As the bowls advance through the centuries, the tone gets more mellow and warm as the vibration of the metal becomes less intense. The tone becomes less metallic. After several centuries more, I would expect the metal to become so brittle that the character changes too much for the bell tone to be produced.
The earlier Persian bowls upon which the singing bowls are based do not produce much sound. Is that because they are too old or is it because they are made differently and lack the tension of the real singing bowls? While I have examined some of these bowls, it is difficult to determine this distinction.
Singing bowls can definitely last for one thousand years. Some are almost that old already. Eventually they will break down, as everything does. It seems to me that the aging process itself will eventually lead to a death of sorts even for singing bowls. After two to three thousand years, they will gradually disintegrate. The only possible exception would be bowls that are kept in pristine condition which could potentially last much longer.
I hope the tradition of the singing bowls is kept alive long enough to find out. Perhaps in one thousand years, some of the early bowls will still be around. Perhaps at that time, some of the new bowls made today will have the amazing sound of the best antiques. Hopefully people centuries in the future will still enjoy these wonderful sounds and vibrations. They just keep getting better with time which is one of their wonderful qualities.
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