Lota

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Lota

India, Gujarat, Kapadwanj, circa 1750-1800
Furnishings; Serviceware
Peacock blue glass
2 7/8 x 3 1/2 in. (7.3 x 8.89 cm)
Museum Acquisition Fund (M.89.83.10)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

Made of peacock blue glass, this lota or water vessel has an urn-shaped body with a shallow kick, sloping shoulders with a rounded edge, wide vertical neck, and a wide mouth with a flaring rim....
Made of peacock blue glass, this lota or water vessel has an urn-shaped body with a shallow kick, sloping shoulders with a rounded edge, wide vertical neck, and a wide mouth with a flaring rim. Its diminutive size suggests it may have been a sample ware, several examples of which are housed in the collection of the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara (A.11.1–.14). Large numbers of rich monochrome glass vessels were produced in the city kilns of Kapadwanj near Ahmedabad during the 17th through early 19th centuries. The most common colors are peacock blue, dark blue, and deep green, with amber, violet, and wine red also featured. Kapadwanj glass is characteristically opaque or translucent with noticeable impurities. The glass is brittle and often comparatively thick, even though the vessels are blown rather than molded. Elegant and lyrical forms distinguish Kapadwanj glass, with rosewater sprinklers, wine cups, water tumblers, spouted pouring vessels, and bird-shaped inkwells being the most popular. The glass vessels typically derive their shapes from forms found in earlier Timurid and Mughal metalware and hardstone carving. Extensive glass production continued at the site until the early 19th century when technically superior English lead glass began to be favored in the Indian marketplace. See M.89.83.1a-b–.10
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Bibliography

  • Markel, Stephen.  "Indian and 'Indianate' Glass Vessels in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art."  Journal of Glass Studies 33 (1991):  82-92.