Ewer
early 17th century (made)
| Place of origin |
This ewer and the set it belongs to are Indian in origin. They were made in Gujarat. However, when the V&A acquired the set in 1857, curators thought these pieces were Italian. This was because the set had a European shape. Another reason was that from about 1600 to 1700 European goldsmiths deliberately copied Gujarati mother-of-pearl work for both familiar and new forms. This created problems of identification for future scholars that still exist today.
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Object details
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | mother-of-pearl secured with iron pins, the base mounted with a brass fillet
Xray examination demonstrates that the closely similar ewers in the V&A and British Museum have no wood in their construction. |
| Brief description | Ewer, mother-of-pearl sections laid over a framework of metal bands and secured with metal pins, Gujarat, early 17th century. |
| Physical description | Ewer, mother-of-pearl sections laid over a framework of metal bands, and secured with iron pins. The base is mounted with a brass fillet. One of a pair. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Object history | "When acquired by the Museum in 1857, these pieces were thought to be Italian. The conviction that such articles were European was motivated not only by their Western shape, but also by the fact that seventeenth- and eighteenth-century continental goldsmiths consciously copied Gujarati mother-of-pearl work, translating its effects into familiar and new forms, thus creating problems of attribution for future scholars that still exist today." |
| Production | For the method of construction of this ewer, see the analysis of a similar piece in the British Museum published in The British Museum Technical Research Bulletin, Volume 1, 2007: Barbara Wills, Susan La Niece, Bet McLeod and Caroline Cartwright, 'A shell garniture from Gujarat, India in the British Museum', pp. 1-8. |
| Summary | This ewer and the set it belongs to are Indian in origin. They were made in Gujarat. However, when the V&A acquired the set in 1857, curators thought these pieces were Italian. This was because the set had a European shape. Another reason was that from about 1600 to 1700 European goldsmiths deliberately copied Gujarati mother-of-pearl work for both familiar and new forms. This created problems of identification for future scholars that still exist today. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Luxury goods from India : the art of the Indian cabinet maker / Amin Jaffer. London: V&A Publications, 2002 Number: 1851773819
pp.38-39
For comparable pieces see Barbara Wills, Susan La Niece, Bet McLeod and Caroline Cartwright, "A shell garniture from Gujarat, India in the British Museum", The British Museum Technical Research Bulletin, Volume 1, 2007, pp. 1-8. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 4258-1857 |
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| Record created | November 27, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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