- Title
- Creamer
- Date Made
- circa 1860-1880
- Medium
- Silver, repoussé and chased
- Dimensions
- 15 1/4 × 2 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (13.34 × 5.72 × 8.89 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2013.220.16
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The creamer or cream jug is an indispensable component of tea and coffee sets made for Western consumption. Both beverages were introduced into England and the Continent by the mid-17th century. The earliest extant English creamers date from the early 18th century. By the early 19th century, European and colonial creamers had evolved into a variety of decorative styles, including zoomorphic vessels.
This creamer is fashioned in the form of a miniature ewer (for example, see M.2013.220.21). The urn-shaped body is supported by a stepped pedestal foot. The flat shoulders lead to a thick, hourglass-shaped neck. The mouth has an everted lip and extended spout. The ear-shaped handle has volute terminals. The decorative program consists of horizontal bands of ornamentation contrasted with bands of unadorned silver. The primary decoration is a waist band of octagonal cartouches inset with large semidivine celestial nymphs (apsarasas) and musicians (gandharvas), which serve as common figural embellishments on south Indian silverware. It is bordered above by a band of curved laplets and below by a diamond pattern. Bands of acanthus leaves surround the foot and shoulders. The uppermost decorative band on the neck is a flowering scroll.