WEST INDIA, PROBABLY GUJARAT, LATE 17TH CENTURY

The work of this box is of the complex and elegant type seen on a pair of parcel gilt silver covered bowls and tazzas sold in these Rooms, 8 October 2008, lot 250 and a gold Goa stone container and stand sold at Bonham's, 16 October 2003, lot 349. In the note to the former, the problems of attribution were discussed, in light of the lack of surviving comparable items. The catalogue entry on the Goa stone holder suggested Bombay, Rajastan or Gujarat as an origin. Because of the strength of European influence on the silver covered bowls and tazzas however, coupled with the lack of European settlements in from the coast in the 17th century, Gujarat - or possibly Bombay - are the most probable origin.