Delight in design: Indian silver for the Raj

Abstract

This is a richly illustrated volume that focuses on the remarkably ornamented silverware produced by Indian craftsmen during the period of the British Raj. Silversmiths created elegant silver tea services, bowls, wine and water ewers, beer mugs, and goblets to adorn the sideboard or mantelpiece in a British Raj home, creating European forms fulfilling European requirements. These same silversmiths then adopted a unique manner of embellishing these objects with a variety of different motifs that reflect local taste and carry a recognizably local pattern. This book carries a set of five essays that explore different facets of the production and consumption of Indian silver for the Raj. It considers the silverware in terms of its clearly distinguishable regional styles, which is prefaced by two thematic sections, one on calling card cases and the other on tea services, which demonstrate its wide prevalence. The visual presentation of the silverware does justice to it dazzling quality. The book is published in conjunction with an exhibition that opens at the Miriam & Ira D Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, in September 2008.

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