- Title
- Beaker
- Date Made
- circa 1896
- Medium
- Silver, repoussé and chased
- Dimensions
- Height: 5 1/2 in. (13.97 cm)
Diameter: 3 1/2 in. (8.89 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2013.220.2
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Grish Chunder Dutt (active c. 1880-1910) was one of the premier silversmiths working in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Established from 1872 to 1947, his award-winning firm was located in Bhabanipur (formerly Bhowanipore), a suburb near the revered Kalighat temple of the goddess Kali. A popular new genre of watercolor painting sold in the thriving bazaars near the temple. These so-called Kalighat paintings featured subject matter deeply rooted in Bengali society and religion, but were stylistically innovative in their expressive spontaneity. Similarly, Dutt’s distinctive style of silverworking depicted traditional Bengali culture, but seems also to have assimilated portrayals of Bengali village life by contemporaneous British artists and photographers. Dutt and other Calcutta silversmiths codified the bucolic imagery of Bengali pastoral activities and scenic landscapes teeming with thatched huts and swaying palm trees. Human figures were disproportionally large for emphasis and perspective. Backgrounds were elaborate and highly detailed with a variety of textured surfaces executed in crisply rendered repoussé.
The beaker depicts a rustic scene of a farmer harvesting grain in stone bordered fields beside thatched huts at the edge of a lush forest. A maker’s mark is on the bottom: Grish Chunder Dutt | Calcutta | Bhowanipore. Inscribed around the rim is: BEHAR LIGHT HORSE SHOOTING CLUB. SHORT RANGE CUP. JAN.1896 WON BY CAPTAIN H.C. SPRY.
