Indian Parcel-Gilt & Pierced Double-Sided Silver Travelling Shrine Case

This very fine, round silver box, comprises two exterior, slightly domed covers that are pierced and parcel gilded, and an interior, double-sided tray.

The covers are finely decorated: one with parrots and the other with peacocks, both amid flowers, within floral borders, and around a central gilded lotus flower roundel.

It is likely that this box was used as a travelling shrine case. The decoration is Mughal-inspired and northern but could have been used by an observant Hindu or a Jain. Jains used round metal bases to hold Siddhacakra images which they would take with them when they were travelling.

The pierced, parcel-gilt silver shows in this case is similar to the work seen on betel boxes or pandans attributed to 18th century North-Western India and Rajasthan (see Terlinden, 1987, p. 142).

The box here is in excellent condition. The parts do not snap together tightly: probably the box would have been kept together in a textile sleeve. For display purposes, the box is best shown on a small plate stand.