- Title
- Sugar Caster
- Date Made
- circa 1920
- Medium
- Silver, repoussé and chased
- Dimensions
- a) Lid height: 1 1/2 in. (3.81 cm)
a) Lid diameter: 2 1/2 in. (6.35 cm)
b) Base height: 4 3/4 in. (12.07 cm)
b) Base diameter: 2 3/4 in. (6.99 cm)
a-b) Overall height: 6 in. (15.24 cm)
a-b) Overall diameter: 2 3/4 in. (6.99 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2013.220.18a-b
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Sugar casters, or sugar sprinklers, are shaped and function like a modern saltshaker. The domed top is perforated to dispense the sugar stored in the cylindrical body when the caster is inverted and shaken. Sugar casters became a fashionable component of fine tableware sets in the mid-17th century after the establishment of sugar plantations in the West Indies enabled sugar to be imported in large quantities into England and Europe.
This sugar caster has a screw-in hemispherical top with a scallop pattern of flower petals. Bordered above and below by bands of plain silver and stylized acanthus leaves, the primary decoration on the body consists of a series of articulated cartouches containing images of Vaishnava divinities executed in the distinctive south Indian metalware style called "swami" work. The featured deities are Krishna triumphantly dancing upon the serpent Kaliya; Krishna fluting; Rama holding his bow; Matsya, the fish avatar; and a dancing figure. Stylized poppy flowers with large serrated leaves fill the interstices between the cartouches. The caster is supported by an unadorned splayed circular foot.