Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 85. A monumental silver, brass and copper-inlaid Bidriware ewer, Deccan, Bidar, first half 19th century.

A monumental silver, brass and copper-inlaid Bidriware ewer, Deccan, Bidar, first half 19th century

VAT reduced rateUK: Greenford Park Warehouse

Auction Closed

March 31, 12:40 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

the bronze body of globular form, on a tall foot, with serpentine handle, lidded ewer and elongated spout, inlaid in silver, brass and copper with houses and European figures in a lush landscape of trees and foliage, with a river, the design repeated on the lid, European coat-of-arms on the neck, foliate details along handle, interior of spout with old collection number '587.[51]'


90cm. height; 42cm. max. width; 54cm. max. depth. 

Please note that the date of this lot should be 19th century and not late 18th century as previously catalogued.

Previously in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1854-1946

Given by Her Majesty Queen Victoria


The accession number on the spout of this lot '587-1854' indicates that it was previously in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The museum file on this lot notes that it was originally catalogued as:


'Ewer with cover, oxidised metal, damascened with silver. H 2' 11", Diam 2' 4".

Given by Her Majesty the Queen.'


It is possible that this magnificent, large, ewer with bidri decoration was gifted to her Majesty Queen Victoria following The Great Exhibition which was held in Hyde Park from 1 May to 15 October 1851. It was then gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1854 and de-accessioned in 1946 before entering a French private collection from where it has more recently come.

The European influence and adaptation by craftsmen into a local decorative vocabulary is clearly visible on this monumental ewer. The combination of elements including neo-classical motifs, derived from both French and English sources, within a distinctive Indian landscape, is attributable to the last quarter of the eighteenth century. For a huqqa base with similar designs, see M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, pl.401.