NORTH INDIA, 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Details

A FINE MUGHAL CARVED IVORY POWDER FLASK
NORTH INDIA, 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Of bow shape, carved in relief, the mouth with a double gazelle's head, the gazelles being attacked by felines, the other half of the flask carved with multiple birds, terminating in overlaping gazelle's heads, the brass stopper originally tinned, a suspension ring attached to the upper half, the brass ring joining the two halves loose, old splits, the interior with remains of gun powder
10 3/8in. (26.7cm.) long

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

Ivory gunpowder horns from seventeenth century Mughal India are a tour de force of imagination in integrating animal forms illustrative of hunting scenes within an essentially utilitarian object. A number of comparable pieces to this powder horn are known, some of which can be traced in European inventories to the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. A particularly elaborate example was in the collection of Prince Elector Johann Georg II of Saxony in 1658, while one in Denmark which is very similar to the present example is noted in an inventory of 1737 (Robert Skelton (ed.), The Indian Heritage, Court Life and Arts under Mughal Rule, London, 1982, nos.439 and 440, p.135). Examples have been sold in Christie's, King Street, 28 April 1998, lot 154 and 23 April 2002, lot 115 and more recently from the collection of the Late Simon Digby, 7 April 2011, lot 217.

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