A finely carved ebony four-fold screen and occasional table, North India, second half 19th century, the four panels of the screen profusely carved with scrolling floral motifs, each with sixteen portrait miniatures set in metal mounts depicting...

A finely carved ebony four-fold screen and occasional table, North India, second half 19th century, the four panels of the screen profusely carved with scrolling floral motifs, each with sixteen portrait miniatures set in metal mounts depicting Mughal Emperors, their consorts, Indian monuments including the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the top sections on the panels with cusped arches terminating in pointed finials; the occasional table with detached octagonal top and folding base similarly decorated, the tabletop set with nine miniatures, the base with fifty-six miniatures, the miniatures painted with gouache in ivory, in cloth covered storage boxes, table 71cm. high x 62.3cm. diam.; the screen 154cm. high x 130cm. diam. (3) In the second half of the nineteenth century it was fashionable in India to decorate wood and furniture with miniatures on ivory. Produced in the workshops of North India, they were much admired by European visitors and residents who would either purchase them loose or mounted into items such as this screen and table.