KARIMNAGAR, DECCAN, 18TH CENTURY

Details

AN INDIAN SILVER FILIGREE ROSE-WATER SPRINKLER
KARIMNAGAR, DECCAN, 18TH CENTURY
Of typical form, rising from splayed foot to globular faceted body through pronounced knop and elegantly tapering neck to floral finial, the main body with bands of interlacing gilt strapwork forming panels of finely worked filigree scrolls, the next level raised in the form of drop shaped panels similarly bordered in gilt, the finial of floral form with dropping swags alternated with more suspended flowers, some of the filigree blocked with polish infill
11½in. (29.3cm.) high

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

A pair of very similar bottles, complete with asssociated trays, are in the collection of Lord Sackville at Knole, Kent (Christiane Terlinden (ed.), Mughal Silver Magnificence, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, 1987, no.94, p.86). Although there they are attributed to the 19th century and to Cuttack or Bengal, the catalogue also includes other items of very similar filigree work from the same collection such as two pan dan boxes that are each attributed to Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh and dated to the late 18th century (op. cit. no.12, p.39 and no.195, p.136). This is presumably on the basis of a very similar casket in the Clive Collection which is already documented by 1774 (Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, no.20, p.45). A casket in the Victoria and Albert Museum similarly has many points in common with the bottles and is dated to the 18th century (op. cit., no.229, p.154). A further closely related bottle, but with simpler body, is in the Khalili Collection (Stephen Vernoit, Occidentalism, London, 1997, no.92, pp.155 and 156 and title page).

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