Salver thumbnail 1
Not on display

Salver

early 17th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This dish 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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read The arts of the Mughal Empire The great age of Mughal art lasted from about 1580 to 1650 and spanned the reigns of three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Hindu and Muslim artists and craftsmen from the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent worked with Iranian masters in the masculine environment of the r...

Object details

Object type
Materials and techniques
mother-of-pearl secured with iron pins, the rim mounted with a brass fillet
Brief description
Salver, circular; mother-of-pearl sections secured with metal pins resting on a metal frame; Gujarat, early 17th century.
Physical description
Circular salver, mother-of-pearl sections laid onto a metal ring, secured with iron pins. The rim is mounted with a brass fillet.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4cm
  • Approx. diameter: 23cm
Gallery label
(09.12.2015)
Ewer and salver
1600–25

India (Gujarat)

Mother-of-pearl on a metal frame

Probably made for the Portuguese market in India or for export to Europe

Museum nos. 4258, 4283-1857
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."
Amin Jaffer, Luxury Goods From India: the art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, London : V&A, 2002, pp.38-39, ill. ISBN: 1 85177 381 9.
Summary
This dish 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
Amin Jaffer, Luxury Goods From India: the art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, London : V&A, 2002, pp.38-39, ill. ISBN: 1 85177 381 9. 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
4283-1857

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Record createdNovember 27, 2002
Record URL
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