Stereograph of Worshipers in Temple of Vimala Sah, Mt. Abu, India

Keystone View Company

Late 19th-early 20th century

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According to the hallmark “O.M. Bhuj,” this unusual and exquisitely designed tea service was designed by Oomersi Mawji the elder. On the top of the teapot’s hinged lid is a coiled cobra, forming the lid’s finial, and the teapot handle has ivory insulators. Each piece has a cube form, and each of the four sides of the sugar and creamer bears a hunting scene against a background of foliate coriander and fluttering birds. These are the sort of beautifully rendered designs Mawji is known for. What makes this service unique is two features: the extraordinary elegantly caparisoned elephant heads that make up the handles for all three pieces—the accuracy of the detail going so far as to depict the tusks trimmed in the manner of domesticated elephants—and the scenes on two of the four sides of the teapot: One is a horseman whose mount is being attacked by a tiger; the other, a caparisoned elephant who, at the moment he captured in silver, seems to be getting the best of a tiger who has attacked him. Usually, Mawji’s animal scenes show either domesticated animals—or wild animals in combat with one another. It is unusual for him to portray a domesticated animal in combat with a wild animal, although such incidents must have occurred both during hunts and long, cross-country treks.
A staircase in a garden in deep shadow.
Cup with underglaze cobalt hatching and vegetal patterns, chrysanthemum spray in well, with chocolate base
The tea service, worked in brilliant répoussé and chasing, consists of jungle hunting scenes: a hunter atop an elephant, another figure with the raised club, a traveler carrying water jugs on the pole, and lions, elephants, rabbits, and foxes. A rabbit is depicted eating low-hanging fruit, while a smaller creature climbs a palm tree, and a lion attacks one of a pair of elephants, all set amid tall palm trees and lush jungle foliage. The teapot has a richly detailed standing-elephant finial, and the cream jug has a slender, coiled-cobra handle. The teapot and sugar bowl bear peacock hallmarks.