Ink pot and broken cover, diagonal channel decoration, rock crystal, cover with attached finial, possibly Mughal, 18th century

An ink pot and broken cover, fashioned and polished in rock crystal.
The pot is round with a narrow neck and is polished inside and out, with diagonal channels carved around the side and which are contained within smooth borders. The neck is surrounded with vertical, flat facets and it has a raised inner ring to locate the cover. The pot stands on a short, flared foot which has a concave recess with a thin rim that has been chipped, with evidence of a subsequent attempt at repair by smoothing down and polishing. There are patches of natural, greenish inclusions around the sides of the pot.
The cover, now broken into two pieces, is high-domed with an attached, separately fashioned finial handle located centrally. The upper, exterior surface has been simply decorated with radiating engraved lines that run to the outer edge but which are contained towards the centre by the first of two concentric, engraved lines. The rim has an inner raised ring that helps locate the cover onto the neck of the pot.

From the collection of Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie bought by the Indian Museum in 1868. Transferred to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1879. 1880 Register Entry: [Room 8. Case .] '01,361. VASE and cover. Crystal, spiral ribs.' (No slip number given.)

The ink pot and cover have been fashioned out of single pieces of clear, colourless quartz crystal. It was probably made within the Mughal empire in the 18th century. Rock crystal is a hard and durable material which requires patience and skill to fashion objects of this quality, especially when using rudimentary equipment such as bow-driven lathes and wheels. The inkpot was originally owned by Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie, who sold part of his extensive collection of hardstones to the Indian Museum in London in 1868. These were transferred to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1879.

01361(IS) to 01361A2/(IS)