Mughal Parcel-Gilt Silver Dish

This Mughal-style banqueting dish or thali, is of shallow rounded form, of high-grade beaten silver. It is engraved with a gilded, central flower medallion, which is surrounded by a plain field, and then a band of foliate scrollwork against a tooled background, also gilded.

It is bordered by a fluted band of scalloped lotus petal niches and with a lipped rim. The edge is further engraved with foliate motifs, that also have parcel gilding.

Thalis such as this were used at elaborate Deccan and Mughal feasts. Each guest was served with his own thali, made of either silver or gold. Originally, precious metals were preferred as they were believed to neutralise poison. Later, they were preferred simply for reasons of ostentation.

A thali of similar form and design is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum and illustrated in Terlinden (1987, p. 104).

A similar but larger thali is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (inventory no. AC1999.248.1) and is illustrated in Arts of Asia, July-August, 2002, p. 32.

The dish here has good weight for its size, is of high-grade silver, and is in fine condition.

 

The descending lotus motif has been used throughout South Asia. The image above shows a twelfth century royal bath at Polonnaruva in central Sri Lanka that is of cut basalt and has a form that is not unlike the dish here.