Indian Polychrome Zoomorphic Wooden Priming Powder Flask

This large polychrome wooden powder flask is carved as a flattened sphere in the form of a large brown makara, disgorging a small fish-like animal from its mouth. The makara emerges from the green tail feathers of a peacock.

It is a fantastical, whimsical concoction – a credit to the carver’s imagination.

The flask’s stopper emerges from the mouth of the fish. And a yellow mane on the makara’s back is removable and from where the flask can be filled.

Almost certainly from Rajasthan, India’s querulous desert state, the styling of the makara head seems based on eighteenth century cannons in Rajasthan, most particularly on examples at Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur. The flask itself however dates to the nineteenth century.

The flask is without repairs and the polychrome largely is intact. Overall, this is an unusual and amusing example of a northern Indian powder flask. It is also larger than many extant examples.