Frank P.
A Misleading Title and Lacking Content: A Review of 'The Singing Bowl Book
My name is Frank Plate and in India they think, I am one of the largest singing bowl dealers in the world with over 30 years of experience in the field. From the mid-90ties to 2007 I have bought approximately 10,000 antique singing bowls and currently have over 1,000 bowls in stock, in Germany. The book in question is a charming work about old singing bowls, yet the title 'The Singing Bowl Book' is somewhat misplaced as it lacks a lot of content. If the author had specified 'antique singing bowls' in the title, I would have rated the content highly. It's clear that he's making a visible effort to sell a bowl collection. Due to the scarcity of these items, apart from him and myself, few others stock large quantities of old bowls. The author's knowledge seems limited to Nepal. He seems unaware that many old singing bowls originate from across the Indian subcontinent. His analysis of the bowls' use in India is lacking, and he doesn't delve into the diverse regional contexts or cultural applications of the bowls. My wife and I have published successful books on singing bowls in the German-speaking market. For a title like 'The Singing Bowl Book', it lacks around 1000 pages of information, particularly on therapeutic, meditative, and self-development applications. However, he does display good knowledge about old singing bowls and I was able to learn from it. Overall, given the broad title, it would have been beneficial if the author provided more information on singing bowls.
Response from SingingbowlmuseumJul 3, 2023
The title and the subtitle are accurate, as it is the authoritative guide to the history, usage and manufacture of the authentic singing bowls of Nepal, those made in the unbroken 1,000 year history. I can not attest to what you do in India with the many food bowls that are passed off as singing bowls. We are worlds apart in terms of understanding these objects and I hope you would study my book carefully (and my many free articles), as it explains the research I did with the archaeological metallurgists at Oxford to uncover the real history of these objects. The real history goes far beyond your collection of mostly 20th century pieces of mixed authenticity. Readers should know the difference between the authentic singing bowls and the many fakes, which my book also directly addresses. It is the only factual guide to singing bowls written to date. The manufacturers are still at it today, producing the authentic bowls in Nepal.