Bird and Banana Leaves

Huang Huan Wu

1970s

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Spring Landscape: “The forest looks like brocade in spring, and the lofty mountain looks like a screen” in Album Folio Format, Li Jian, ink and color on silk
M17 This breathtaking, hexagonal-shape tea service was made in Madras, in the southeastern region of India. It is uniquely designed; the hexagonal shape is almost never encountered in Indian colonial silver. The silver work shows various Hindu deities carved in exceptionally crisp, high relief, and is referred to as “Swami” style (Wilkinson, p. 146), after the Hindu term for idols. The famed Madras firm of P. Orr & Sons was renowned for Swami design. (See Wilkinson, p. 154, which illustrates work sheets for a ca.-1875 P. Orr jug, with a handle identical to the one on this teapot.) The pieces in this service exhibit brilliantly répoussé and chased scenes of deities in various dance, meditative, and warlike positions. Each figure is distinct from the others, and is carved sharply, in high relief from the surface. One of the figures represented is Matsya, the fish incarnation of Lord Vishnu, shown with a multiheaded, waving fan. Another image is of Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, who is portrayed near the elephant spout of the teapot. Yet another deity wields a slender, curved sword and is shown in a fierce, warriorlike posture. A center panel depicts a tall plum tree, which is a design theme found more often in Chinese export pieces than in Indian silver, and further decorations are raised, shield-form medallions. The teapot lid closes flush to its base. The piece has never been monogrammed. Swami-ornamented silver was highly acclaimed at a 1875 exhibition for the Prince of Wales, who was presented with a Swami-style tea service—perhaps much like this one—and other similarly decorated items.
Iconographic Drawing, Japan, ink on paper
Title refers to a Noh play and the character it is based on from the Tales of Heike.