A Mughal carved ivory powder flask with fish, 17th century

composed of two sections pinned together, carved with a composite design of fantastical and aquatic creatures, both in profile and in the round, some with their upper bodies emerging from the open jaws of their predators

Acquired pre-1969

Ivory powder flasks carved with composite beasts were popular during the Mughal period, however the present example is unusual in the preponderance of piscine over terrestrial creatures. Related powder flasks in the Royal Danish Kunstkammer are recorded in the palace inventories of 1690 and 1737 providing an ante quem date for the larger group (see London 1982, p.135, no.440).