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Silver Document Holder by Grish Chunder Dutt & Sons
Calcutta, India
circa 1900
length: 44cm, diameter: 7.8cm
Silver manuscript cylinders were used in India to present petitions to senior officials, but no doubt also were used to store important personal documents such
as awards and degrees.
This example is unusually large and fine; indeed the repoussed and chased relief decoration is particularly fine and among the finest we have seen on
Calcutta silverwork. It shows at both ends of the tube rural scenes that seem to feature ascetics and villagers. One scene shows a woman astride a
copiously-maned lion for example.
One end pulls off allowing the interior to be access. Both ends are decorated with finials that emerge from leafy flourishes, which in turn are surrounded by
scrolling lotus flowers and lotus leaves against finely tooled backgrounds.
The central panel of the cylinder is plain other than for an oval rosette within which the name of the individual to whom the cylinder was to be presented would
have been inscribed. The inscription has been removed if such an inscription had been there in the first place.
The cylinder was made by the Calcutta silversmithing firm Grish Chunder Dutt & Sons which operated between 1872 and 1947. The tube is engraved with the
firm's name, 'Calcutta', and what appears to read 'Bhuwanifur' on the inside sleeve where the tube pulls apart. (More information on the firm which was the
premier Calcutta silver firm can be found here.)
The cylinder is in fine condition. The features are sharp and have not been worn over time by excessive polishing.
Provenance: UK art market
References:
Dehejia, V., Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj, Mapin, 2008.
Inventory no.: 1585 SOLD
Click here to see more colonial Indian silver.
Silver Document Holder by Grish Chunder Dutt & Sons
Calcutta, India
circa 1900
length: 44cm, diameter: 7.8cm
Silver manuscript cylinders were used in India to present petitions to senior officials, but no doubt also were used to store important personal documents such
as awards and degrees.
This example is unusually large and fine; indeed the repoussed and chased relief decoration is particularly fine and among the finest we have seen on
Calcutta silverwork. It shows at both ends of the tube rural scenes that seem to feature ascetics and villagers. One scene shows a woman astride a
copiously-maned lion for example.
One end pulls off allowing the interior to be access. Both ends are decorated with finials that emerge from leafy flourishes, which in turn are surrounded by
scrolling lotus flowers and lotus leaves against finely tooled backgrounds.
The central panel of the cylinder is plain other than for an oval rosette within which the name of the individual to whom the cylinder was to be presented would
have been inscribed. The inscription has been removed if such an inscription had been there in the first place.
The cylinder was made by the Calcutta silversmithing firm Grish Chunder Dutt & Sons which operated between 1872 and 1947. The tube is engraved with the
firm's name, 'Calcutta', and what appears to read 'Bhuwanifur' on the inside sleeve where the tube pulls apart. (More information on the firm which was the
premier Calcutta silver firm can be found here.)
The cylinder is in fine condition. The features are sharp and have not been worn over time by excessive polishing.
Provenance: UK art market
References:
Dehejia, V., Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj, Mapin, 2008.
Inventory no.: 1585 SOLD
Click here to see more colonial Indian silver.
