Footstool
19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Although this piece of furniture is recorded as a footstool, in a traditional Indian interior, where people typically sat cross-legged on the floor, it might have been used as a low table. In India the practice of covering furnishings with sheets of precious metal is an ancient one, and was the norm for furniture intended for deities and royalty. The underside of this footstool is signed in Gujarati by the makers: 'Mistry Raghunath Tribhuvan's children Chhaganlal and Vrajlal'. The footstool was made for the Delhi Exhibition of 1903-1904. This was a vast fair of Indian arts and manufactures organised by Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, to coincide with the Delhi Durbar, held to commemorate the accession to the British throne of King Edward VII. Lord Curzon was himself an avid collector of Indian art and purchased this piece at the Delhi Exhibition.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved rosewood, covered with sheet silver |
| Brief description | Footstool, teak silver, Baroda, India, C19 |
| Physical description | Teak, covered with repousse silver, chased ad punched. The square table-like top rests on four lion feet. The whole visible surface is covered with silver, working in low relief repousse work, heightened by chasing and a punched group. The symetrical ornament is composed of conventional flowers and leaves interlaced with arabesque-tracery. On the wooden underside in an inscription in Gujarati characters. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Curzon Bequest |
| Object history | Bequest by the Right Hon. George Nathaniel, Marques Curzon of Kedleston, K.G., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., D.C.I. Given by the Marchioness Curzon and the Hon. Francis N. Curzon. Register entry 24 May 1927. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | Although this piece of furniture is recorded as a footstool, in a traditional Indian interior, where people typically sat cross-legged on the floor, it might have been used as a low table. In India the practice of covering furnishings with sheets of precious metal is an ancient one, and was the norm for furniture intended for deities and royalty. The underside of this footstool is signed in Gujarati by the makers: 'Mistry Raghunath Tribhuvan's children Chhaganlal and Vrajlal'. The footstool was made for the Delhi Exhibition of 1903-1904. This was a vast fair of Indian arts and manufactures organised by Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, to coincide with the Delhi Durbar, held to commemorate the accession to the British throne of King Edward VII. Lord Curzon was himself an avid collector of Indian art and purchased this piece at the Delhi Exhibition. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.289-1927 |
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| Record created | December 24, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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