Unknown
Basincirca 1650-1700 (bottom); 1742 (top)

Not on view

Dark metal vessel with wide flaring basin atop a squat rounded body, covered overall with dense gold-inlaid floral and vine patterns

Two darkened metal objects: a ewer with a pear-shaped body, long curved spout, looped handle, and hexagonal foot, and a wide-rimmed spittoon-shaped vessel, both densely covered in silver-inlaid scrolling floral and arabesque patterns.

Metal vessel with a wide flared rim above a squat, bulbous body, covered overall in dense gold-inlaid foliate scrollwork against a dark ground.

Close-up of a dark metal vessel with engraved and gilt floral decoration, showing intertwining stems, large leaves, grape clusters, and birds against a blackened ground.

Close-up detail of a darkened metal vessel with gilded decoration, showing two ornamental bands: an upper register of ogival arches and a lower register of scrolling floral and leaf motifs in gold against a black ground, separated by a curved molded rim with a central rivet.

Close-up of a dark metal vessel surface with engraved and gilded floral decoration, showing scrolling stems, multi-petaled blossoms, and dense leaf forms against a blackened ground.

Close-up of a dark metal vessel with dense gold inlaid decoration, featuring scrolling floral and foliate patterns of intertwining stems, blooms, and leaves across a blackened surface.

Close-up of a rounded ceramic vessel with dark ground and gold-toned floral decoration; densely carved or incised flowering plants with serrated leaves cover the surface in an allover pattern.

Metal vessel, partial overhead view showing wide brim densely covered in engraved scrolling floral and foliate arabesques in gold against a dark niello ground, with a narrow border of smaller repeat motifs along the rim's edge.

Close-up of a scratched and pitted metal surface with engraved or inlaid numerals, likely a date, in dark-filled recesses against worn silver-gray metal.

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Basin
Place Made: Pakistan, Lahore, Mughal Empire
Date Made: circa 1650-1700 (bottom); 1742 (top)
Period: 17th-18th centuries
Medium: Brass inlaid with a dark gray ground, cast and engraved (bottom); brass inlaid with a dark gray ground, engraved (top)
Dimensions: 7 3/8 x DIAM: 15 1/4 in. (18.73 x 38.74 cm)
Credit Line: South and Southeast Asian Acquisition Fund
Accession Number: M.2000.47
Classification: Tools and Equipment
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The basin (tasht or sailabchi) is composed, unusually, of two parts, created using differing techniques and at demonstrably different dates, that were riveted together to form the present vessel. The top is a broad, sloped rim that transitions to a vertical inner collar extending into the vessel’s throat. The interior lower edge of the rim has a narrow horizontal support lip for a decoratively pierced lid (now missing), which would have covered the mouth of the chamber and provided a foundation for the basin’s original matching water ewer (present location unknown). The bottom is a compressed bulbous body with a solid low foot.
The decoration on both the top and bottom consists of twelve distinct flowering plants set within a vegetal lattice. Lilies and narcissi serve as the basic inspiration for the plants on the bottom. Each is sanded flush to the ground and emphasized by the surrounding areas of negative design space. In contrast, the floral motifs on the basin’s rim are more compact and denser, slightly raised from the ground, and have less negative design space between them. This subtle compositional difference has the effect of emphasizing the overall pattern of the motifs rather than the individual plants. The plants on the rim are also less individualized than those on the bottom and appear to be slight variations on three types: lilies and narcissi, as well as six- or seven-petaled rosettes. The cast floral motifs on the rim are also less finely detailed, with sparser and coarser linear incising than on the bottom. The basin’s flowers are closely related in botanical structure to the flowers in certain painting albums made for the Mughal Emperors Jahangir (r. 1605-27) and Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58), which suggests a shared artistic tradition.
Selected Bibliography: Markel, Stephen. Mughal and Early Modern Metalware from South Asia at LACMA: An Online Scholarly Catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020. https://archive.org/details/mughal-metalware (accessed September 7, 2021).

Related Unframed

Unknown
Basincirca 1650-1700 (bottom); 1742 (top)

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Basin
Place Made: Pakistan, Lahore, Mughal Empire
Date Made: circa 1650-1700 (bottom); 1742 (top)
Period: 17th-18th centuries
Medium: Brass inlaid with a dark gray ground, cast and engraved (bottom); brass inlaid with a dark gray ground, engraved (top)
Dimensions: 7 3/8 x DIAM: 15 1/4 in. (18.73 x 38.74 cm)
Credit Line: South and Southeast Asian Acquisition Fund
Accession Number: M.2000.47
Classification: Tools and Equipment
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The basin (tasht or sailabchi) is composed, unusually, of two parts, created using differing techniques and at demonstrably different dates, that were riveted together to form the present vessel. The top is a broad, sloped rim that transitions to a vertical inner collar extending into the vessel’s throat. The interior lower edge of the rim has a narrow horizontal support lip for a decoratively pierced lid (now missing), which would have covered the mouth of the chamber and provided a foundation for the basin’s original matching water ewer (present location unknown). The bottom is a compressed bulbous body with a solid low foot.
The decoration on both the top and bottom consists of twelve distinct flowering plants set within a vegetal lattice. Lilies and narcissi serve as the basic inspiration for the plants on the bottom. Each is sanded flush to the ground and emphasized by the surrounding areas of negative design space. In contrast, the floral motifs on the basin’s rim are more compact and denser, slightly raised from the ground, and have less negative design space between them. This subtle compositional difference has the effect of emphasizing the overall pattern of the motifs rather than the individual plants. The plants on the rim are also less individualized than those on the bottom and appear to be slight variations on three types: lilies and narcissi, as well as six- or seven-petaled rosettes. The cast floral motifs on the rim are also less finely detailed, with sparser and coarser linear incising than on the bottom. The basin’s flowers are closely related in botanical structure to the flowers in certain painting albums made for the Mughal Emperors Jahangir (r. 1605-27) and Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58), which suggests a shared artistic tradition.
Selected Bibliography: Markel, Stephen. Mughal and Early Modern Metalware from South Asia at LACMA: An Online Scholarly Catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020. https://archive.org/details/mughal-metalware (accessed September 7, 2021).