A monumental Anglo-Indian silver 'Jungle pattern' bowl. Lucknow, c.1880. Raj period. T...
A monumental Anglo-Indian silver 'Jungle pattern' bowl.
Lucknow, c.1880.
Raj period. The circular bowl raised on a collet foot, the repousse sides chased and embossed with a forest of palm trees growing from a stony ground of semicircular segments beneath a band of trailing foliage, the decoration including a winged demon and various human figures depicted climbing, seated or standing among the trees and interspersed with animals including lions, tigers, elephants, deer, birds, buffalo, snakes, monkeys and a bear, the sides framed above and below with bands of decoration, the lower frieze depicting lions, tigers and long-eared rabbits alongside cranes, elephants and human figures among palm trees, all above a river in which fish, snakes, birds and a man can be seen swimming, the upper band beneath the polished rim decorated with flowers and scrolling foliage, approx. 50cm dia., 32cm high, approx. weight 232.4ozt
Provenance: The Property of a Gentleman.
By repute: The vendor's great-grandfather was the Surgeon-General based in Mumbai (b.1820, d.1898) and the vendor's grandfather worked for the forestry commission in Lucknow. The vendor's grandparents were married in Lucknow in 1912 and it is believed that his great-grandparents may have given the couple this bowl as a wedding present.
Footnote: Wynyard Wilkinson provides the following description of 'Jungle pattern' Lucknow silver in his book Indian Silver 1858-1947: 'Lucknow silverwork was best known for the distinctive style of decoration known as 'Jungle pattern'. This pattern featured wild animals in a forest of palm trees. Among the animals usually represented were elephants, lions, tigers, deer and large rabbits, although not necessarily in scale to each other. Men were often shown climbing the palm trees as if to escape from these animals. The design for the Jungle pattern, which was not copied elsewhere in India, was derived from pictorial art in the form of Mogul miniatures. [...] On earlier pieces of silver decorated with the 'Jungle' pattern, the criss-cross patterned ground was often used.' (pg. 127)
The Official Catalogue of the Indian Art Exhibition in Delhi (1903) references various pieces of Lucknow silver. The catalogue describes the 'Jungle' pattern as 'consist[ing] of closely compacted palms' and notes that the pattern 'may be almost said to have entirely disappeared'. The catalogue references a punch bowl by Durga Parshad and Manohar Das and a tea set by the same makers (pg. 36). Plate No. 8 in the catalogue illustrates 'Selected silver plate of India' and includes a 'Jungle pattern' silver bowl (likely that mentioned on pg. 36). Three Lucknow pieces are listed under the 'Awards for Silver and Silver Plate' (pp. 40-42). These include: a silver bowl in 'fish pattern' by Durga Parshad and Manohar Das (Commended) and a 'silver tea set of three pieces, also tray, by Gauri Shankar Har Narain of Lucknow' (Commended).
Decoration
Somewhat unusually, the decoration on this bowl features a winged ‘div’ (dev), a princess and a sage among the many human and animal characters. The story appears to be based on a Sufi ‘Afsana’ (moral tale), perhaps drawing from the story of Nim Tanak, the outcast son of a King who rescued his brothers and sisters. The King had encountered a sage (or dervish) while walking in the desert, who provided him with four apples; one for each of his four wives. Three of the wives ate their apples and proceeded to have healthy children. However, the fourth wife ate only half of hers – she set the other half down to eat later, and it was carried off by a crow. Consequently, this wife had only ‘half of a son’. The King was angry and banished both wife and son from his presence.
Many years later, a bad div fell in love with the King’s daughter and carried her off to its cave. The King sent two of his sons in succession to fight it, each accompanied by troops and wearing his best armour. Both were captured by the beast and held in its cave – one hung up by his top-knot and the other by his eyelashes – so it fell to the div ‘half boar, half boy’ Nim Tanak to rescue them all. This he did, and the King was so delighted when the four returned home that he chose Nim Tanak to be his heir. The moral of the tale appears to lie in the victory of the modest man (who controls his ego) over the proud and wealthy brothers, both of whom failed to triumph over the 'beast' of their egos.
If this bowl was given as a wedding present, it is possible that this allegorical story was included in the design of the piece as a symbolic reference to living ‘happily ever after’.
Reference: Persian Tales. Translated by D.L.R Lorimer and E.O Lorimer, Macmillan & Co., 1919 (pp. 108-112)
Further references:
Delight in Design. Indian Silver for the Raj by Vidya Dehejia, 2008 (pp.171-175)
India's Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow by Stephen Markel and Tushara Bindu Gude, Los Angeles Museum of Art, 2011, pp. 206-217
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A monumental Anglo-Indian silver 'Jungle pattern' bowl.
Lucknow, c.1880.
Raj period. The circular bowl raised on a collet foot, the repousse sides chased and embossed with a forest of palm trees growing from a stony ground of semicircular segments beneath a band of trailing foliage, the decoration including a winged demon and various human figures depicted climbing, seated or standing among the trees and interspersed with animals including lions, tigers, elephants, deer, birds, buffalo, snakes, monkeys and a bear, the sides framed above and below with bands of decoration, the lower frieze depicting lions, tigers and long-eared rabbits alongside cranes, elephants and human figures among palm trees, all above a river in which fish, snakes, birds and a man can be seen swimming, the upper band beneath the polished rim decorated with flowers and scrolling foliage, approx. 50cm dia., 32cm high, approx. weight 232.4ozt
Provenance: The Property of a Gentleman.
By repute: The vendor's great-grandfather was the Surgeon-General based in Mumbai (b.1820, d.1898) and the vendor's grandfather worked for the forestry commission in Lucknow. The vendor's grandparents were married in Lucknow in 1912 and it is believed that his great-grandparents may have given the couple this bowl as a wedding present.
Footnote: Wynyard Wilkinson provides the following description of 'Jungle pattern' Lucknow silver in his book Indian Silver 1858-1947: 'Lucknow silverwork was best known for the distinctive style of decoration known as 'Jungle pattern'. This pattern featured wild animals in a forest of palm trees. Among the animals usually represented were elephants, lions, tigers, deer and large rabbits, although not necessarily in scale to each other. Men were often shown climbing the palm trees as if to escape from these animals. The design for the Jungle pattern, which was not copied elsewhere in India, was derived from pictorial art in the form of Mogul miniatures. [...] On earlier pieces of silver decorated with the 'Jungle' pattern, the criss-cross patterned ground was often used.' (pg. 127)
The Official Catalogue of the Indian Art Exhibition in Delhi (1903) references various pieces of Lucknow silver. The catalogue describes the 'Jungle' pattern as 'consist[ing] of closely compacted palms' and notes that the pattern 'may be almost said to have entirely disappeared'. The catalogue references a punch bowl by Durga Parshad and Manohar Das and a tea set by the same makers (pg. 36). Plate No. 8 in the catalogue illustrates 'Selected silver plate of India' and includes a 'Jungle pattern' silver bowl (likely that mentioned on pg. 36). Three Lucknow pieces are listed under the 'Awards for Silver and Silver Plate' (pp. 40-42). These include: a silver bowl in 'fish pattern' by Durga Parshad and Manohar Das (Commended) and a 'silver tea set of three pieces, also tray, by Gauri Shankar Har Narain of Lucknow' (Commended).
Decoration
Somewhat unusually, the decoration on this bowl features a winged ‘div’ (dev), a princess and a sage among the many human and animal characters. The story appears to be based on a Sufi ‘Afsana’ (moral tale), perhaps drawing from the story of Nim Tanak, the outcast son of a King who rescued his brothers and sisters. The King had encountered a sage (or dervish) while walking in the desert, who provided him with four apples; one for each of his four wives. Three of the wives ate their apples and proceeded to have healthy children. However, the fourth wife ate only half of hers – she set the other half down to eat later, and it was carried off by a crow. Consequently, this wife had only ‘half of a son’. The King was angry and banished both wife and son from his presence.
Many years later, a bad div fell in love with the King’s daughter and carried her off to its cave. The King sent two of his sons in succession to fight it, each accompanied by troops and wearing his best armour. Both were captured by the beast and held in its cave – one hung up by his top-knot and the other by his eyelashes – so it fell to the div ‘half boar, half boy’ Nim Tanak to rescue them all. This he did, and the King was so delighted when the four returned home that he chose Nim Tanak to be his heir. The moral of the tale appears to lie in the victory of the modest man (who controls his ego) over the proud and wealthy brothers, both of whom failed to triumph over the 'beast' of their egos.
If this bowl was given as a wedding present, it is possible that this allegorical story was included in the design of the piece as a symbolic reference to living ‘happily ever after’.
Reference: Persian Tales. Translated by D.L.R Lorimer and E.O Lorimer, Macmillan & Co., 1919 (pp. 108-112)
Further references:
Delight in Design. Indian Silver for the Raj by Vidya Dehejia, 2008 (pp.171-175)
India's Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow by Stephen Markel and Tushara Bindu Gude, Los Angeles Museum of Art, 2011, pp. 206-217
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
