GUJERAT OR SINDH, LATE 17TH CENTURY OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY

細節

AN IVORY INLAID HARDWOOD CABINET
Gujerat or Sindh, late 17th century or early 18th century
Of rectangular form with hinged doors to front, the front, top and sides inlaid in ivory with overall fruiting and leafy vine tendrils, in a border of meandering palmette vine, contemporary and probably original engraved silver lock plate and hinges, the lock plate with European armorials within scrolling vine surround, the hinges engraved with interlaced arabesques, the doors opening to reveal eighteen graduated drawers, mostly similarly inlaid with vine and with silver handles, the interior of each door inlaid with a finely drawn floral spray above a balustrade within a meandering palmette vine border, slight damages especially to top, back panel probably replaced, later stand
28¼in. x 17¾in. x 19in. (72cm. x 45cm. x 48cm.)

注意事項

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

拍品專文

Amin Jaffer notes that the form of the present cabinet, opening as it does with two doors rather than a fall front, was introduced as a result of Western influence at the end of the seventeenth century. A cabinet of similar form is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Amin Jaffer: Luxury Goods from India: the Art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, London, 2002, no.25).

The exterior decoration of the present cabinet with its overal fruiting vine is different from the designs found on most Gujerati and Sindh cabinets of this period, which almost alwats have either figural designs, single floral sprays, or combinations of the two. The silver mounts are also very rare to find. Their style of slightly sketchy engraving on a hatched ground is similar to the work on the mounts of a tortoiseshell casket from the same area attributed to the early 17th century (Jaffer, op.cit., no.2). It is almost certain that the mounts therefore, including the armorials, were worked in India rather than in Europe.