Silver box with a circular base made in India that is round, with lobed sides. The size can be compared to a navel orange. The box is made in fine repoussé technique, when motif is hammered into relief from the reverse side of the surface. It creates a low profile intricate flower design. There are grooves in between the designs that make the box look like a tent. The lid is topped with a bird finial. The inside of the box features a gold gilded surface.
Indian, Lucknow
Box,
late 19th century
Silver, partly gilded
,
10 x 11.5 cm (3 15/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
Object details
Accession number
M11n2.a-b
Primary Creator
Indian, Lucknow
Full title
Box
Creation Date
late 19th century
Provenance
Possibly acquired by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Lucknow, India in March 1884.
Dimensions
10 x 11.5 cm (3 15/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
Display Media
Silver, partly gilded
Web Commentary
This elegantly lobed box in fine repoussé work may have been acquired by Mrs. Gardner in Lucknow, a city known for the production of fine silver, often enameled, in the nineteenth century. It may have been made as a betel box (pandam) for the tourist market.
Permanent Gallery Location
Macknight Room
Bibliography
Alan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), p. 463, fig. 9.
Rights and reproductions
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This elegantly lobed box in fine repoussé work may have been acquired by Mrs. Gardner in Lucknow, a city known for the production of fine silver, often enameled, in the nineteenth century. It may have been made as a betel box (pandam) for the tourist market.