Fabulous Cutch/Kutch Water Jug, Indian Antique Silver
Monumental Silver Water Jug by Shamji Mukonji
Cutch, India
circa 1880
height: 34cm, weight: 1.145kg
This rare and spectacular water jug is unusually tall at 34cm in height. It is decorated all over with dense scrolling foliage and flowers. The sides are engraved with Persian-style hunting scenes – a boar being hunted by a princely figure on a horse and his dogs on one side, and another figure astride a camel, holding a hare and fending off two wolves. Birds, including a peacock beneath the handle, are incorporated into the scrolling foliage here and there.
The jug has a well cast and engraved snake handle; a hinged lid terminates with a finely rendered bud-like finial; and it sits on a wide foot similarly decorated with scrolling fine and flower motifs.
The item is stamped on the rim of the foot with the makers’ initials ‘S.M’ for Shamji Mukonji – a contemporary of the more prolific Cutch silversmith Oomersi Mawji.
References
A small example lacking a lid is illustrated in the catalogue for ‘Reflecting Power: Three Schools of Indian Silver’, an exhibition at Indar Pasricha Fine Arts, 2008.
Inventory no.: 812
SOLD