02/16/2026
Help identifying this pewter bowl (USA)
My mother bought this pewter bowl during a silent auction in Alaska.
Supposedly it was bought by Lowell Thomas from a trip to Tibet. The bowel was put up by his son Lowell Thomas Junior to raise funds for the local church Saint Mary’s in the Field in Anchorage AK.
(Lowell Thomas April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, broadcaster, and documentary filmmaker, known as a world traveler.
The lettering on the bowel appears to be Chinese not Tibetan. The designs on the side look to be created by hand. The handles are supposed to depict a phoenix ?
The handle looks like it has a jade and another opaque stone placed in the handle.
We don’t know when the bowel was created or purchased we do believe it was purchased before the occupation of Tibet.
