- Title
- Dish
- Date Made
- mid-19th century
- Medium
- Parcel-gilt silver; green and blue glass insets; incised gold overlay
- Dimensions
- 4 3/4 x 5 7/16 x 3/8 in. (12.07 x 13.81 x .95 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2003.9
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This intricately crafted dish is from the princedom of Pratapgarh in southern Rajasthan. It is made in a distinctive technique termed thewa (setting) involving the fusion of chased gold foil onto the surface of colored glass. The lace-like matrices depict miniature stock scenes of Europeans or Indians hunting wild game; animal combat; or small iconic tableaux of Hindu mythology, especially Vishnu’s avatars or incarnations.
The dish has a central oval medallion of green glass with a complex hunting scene in gold foil. In the center is a European riding an elephant and shooting game. The lush background of flowering foliage abounds with additional hunters on foot and animals roaming and attacking prey. The composition is framed by a band of partially gilded silver with a scrolling floral arabesque. Radiating outward like flower petals are twelve plaques of alternating blue and green glass with gold foil vignettes illustrating an approximately equal number of hunters and personifications of musical melodies, and a single representation of Krishna fluting. The rim is a scalloped border of partially gilt silver enlivened with a flowering vine.
A wide variety of works created in this technique were made in India, primarily in Pratapgarh in southern Rajasthan but also to a lesser extent in nearby Rutlam and Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Much thewa work was intended for Western consumption by European travelers and as export ware for foreign markets.