Bowl, circular, short recessed foot with rim, translucent grey to beige agate with brown markings, India, 19th century

A bowl of circular form with straight walls that slant gently outwards as they rise to the rim. It has a short, recessed foot with a rim and it has been fashioned in translucent grey to beige agate with brown markings.

Wells Bequest

This bowl was fashioned in India in the 19th century and it was acquired by Arthur Wells who was a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882. This collection was left to the museum in his will - the Wells Bequest.

This bowl was made in India in the 19th century with most of the fashioning process involving a combination of hand-working and turning on a bow-driven lathe. It was made from locally sourced agate which is just one of a large number of quartz hardstones that can be very decorative and which have been used for ornamental as well as utilitarian wars. Although agate is a tough and durable material, when it is worked to a fine edge or thickness it is vulnerable to damage when subjected to stress or impact.

1591-1882