Pair of Kashmir Gilded & Enamelled Jars

This fine pair of covered jars are from 19th century Kashmir and show definite Persian influence. Each has a beautiful, elongated tear-drop shaped body, with a small, flattened base and a low, flared foot.  Each rises to a small neck, over which fits a slightly domed cap.

The pair is of gilded (gold-plated) copper and has been decorated finely with dark blue and turquoise enamel. The gold and the two blues provide a splendid contrast with each other. The flower motifs on the vessel so arrayed is scrolls bordered by florals bands. The flowers are based on coriander flowers.

Enamelling is the craft of colouring and ornamenting the surface of metal by fusing over it various mineral compounds. There are three main ways in which enamelling can be done – cloissone as was done in China and Japan; champleve enamel as done elsewhere in India; and the painting over the surface of the metal with a silicated fusible paint and then subjecting the item to heat so as to fuse the paint to the surface, as was done in Kashmir. This process called for just the right amount of heat so that the different coloured paints did not run and fuse together.

Both are in excellent condition.