Casket
ca. 1901 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Caskets devised for storing precious belongings were stock products of workshops at Vizagapatam (Vishakhapatnam), a port on India's Coromandel coast that from the early 18th century was renowned for its production of luxury ivory and ivory-inlaid furniture and woodwork. This piece reflects the late 19th- and early 20th-century shift in Vizagapatam workshops towards carving such caskets with scenes from Hindu mythology. It was almost certainly made at the workshop of Gangula Ramalingam, specifically for the Delhi Exhibition of 1902-1903. This was a vast fair of Indian arts and manufactures organised by Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, to coincide with the Delhi Durbar, itself held to commemorate the accession to the British throne of King Edward VII. Lord Curzon was an avid collector of Indian art and purchased this piece at the Delhi Exhibition.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Sandalwood, veneered with panels of carved and pierced ivory |
| Brief description | Domestic, sandalwood ivory horn, Vishnakhapatnam |
| Physical description | Casket is sarcophagus-shaped, the centre of the pitched lid with panel representing the coronation of Rama with attendants. The panel is surrounded by a band of dancers and animals amid foliage. The borders are repeated around on all sides with carved animals and foliage and include birds, elephants monkeys, squirrels, cats and a tiger. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Curzon Bequest |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Caskets devised for storing precious belongings were stock products of workshops at Vizagapatam (Vishakhapatnam), a port on India's Coromandel coast that from the early 18th century was renowned for its production of luxury ivory and ivory-inlaid furniture and woodwork. This piece reflects the late 19th- and early 20th-century shift in Vizagapatam workshops towards carving such caskets with scenes from Hindu mythology. It was almost certainly made at the workshop of Gangula Ramalingam, specifically for the Delhi Exhibition of 1902-1903. This was a vast fair of Indian arts and manufactures organised by Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, to coincide with the Delhi Durbar, itself held to commemorate the accession to the British throne of King Edward VII. Lord Curzon was an avid collector of Indian art and purchased this piece at the Delhi Exhibition. |
| Bibliographic reference | Jaffer, Amin Furniture from British India and Ceylon: A Catalogue of the Collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum. London : V&A Publications, 2001. 416 p., ill. ISBN 1851773185, p.218-9, pl.65. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.92-1927 |
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| Record created | December 6, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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