Mahratta Durbar Hall, Rajah’s Palace, Tanjore, South India

Keystone View Company

Late 19th-early 20th century

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Stem Cup, Korea, stoneware
Ot-7 The box features an exceptionally fine and rare technique called “Thewa”, typical of work from the ancient town of Pratapgarh, in Rajasthan. Invented in 1767 by a local goldsmith named Nathuni Sonewalla, this technique - which requires the highest level of skill - was passed down from father to son, and was safeguarded in secrecy by a few goldsmith families until the 20th century. The box is a type of 19th-century luxury item that was made to appeal to European taste, which category has had a recent revival in popularity.
OT-21 This claret jug has a finial that is a snake-charmer playing a pungi, a flute-like instrument made from a gourd, for the attention of a cobra that forms the handle. Midway, it is circled by medallions enclosing different deities, and its the base is a coriander-leaf border. The remainder of the body of the piece is highly polished, like its contemporary Colonial pieces, a design choice that highlights the repousée work. The piece is unusual by virtue of its finely worked design and for its having come from Bangalore, not so widely known as Kashmir, Kutch, Madras, and Lucknow as a region of silversmiths. The piece is late, 1905, and marked C. Krishna Chetti,a silversmith whose work was exhibited in Delhi in 1903 and in Lahore in 1909. Chetti adopted many of the themes of the Calcutta silversmiths, but he has worked them more finely than did many of the Calcutta smiths.
head of a Buddha