A rare and interesting early to mid-19th century Indian Colonial silver rice bowl base, Calcutta circa 1836-1853, attributed to Twentyman & Company

Of hemispherical form raised upon a ribbed circular collet foot. The body with later possibly Chinese flat chased decoration in two bands of towering buildings on a mount with foliage populated with birds against a matted ground, divided by a plain central band. Gilt interior. The centre engraved with a coat of arms with another on an escutcheon of pretence between supporters of dragons reguardant holding in the interior forepaw a dart, with motto below Deum Cole Regem Serva, all surmounted by an Earl’s coronet. The underneath engraved with a crest of a demi-dragon wings everted, langued, holding in the dexter claw a dart and in the sinister claw an escutcheon, below an Earl's coronet. Marked underneath with a lion rampant mark and an incuse tally mark.

Diameter – 21 cm / 8.25 inches

Weight – 618 grams / 19.87 ozt

The crest is for Cole

The arms and motto are for Cole with Casamajor on an escutcheon of pretence

For Rt. Hon. William Willoughbly Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen (1807-1886) who married Jane Casamajor (1815-1855) on 16th Jan 1844. Cole assumed the Earldom upon the death of his father John Willoughby Cole (1768-1840), the 2nd Earl, on the 31st March 1840, whom had married Lady Charlotte Paget (1781-1817), 4th daughter of Henry 1st Earl of Uxbridge and Jane Champagne. They resided at Florence Court, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (seat of the Earl’s of Enniskillen until 1973) and had issue. William was an important early palaeontologist. Jane Casamajor was the eldest of three daughters of James Archibald Casamajor HEICS (1787-1863) and Mary Christian Paterson (India 1789/92 – d. between 1820 and 1834), daughter of Lieut Col. Thomas Paterson (d.1810).

The mark on this bowl is ill defined, however lion rampant marks are known on Calcutta silver by Twentyman & Company (active circa 1818-54) and Pittar & Company (active 1825-1848). We can see from Wynyard Wilkinson’s work on Indian colonial silver that Twentyman & Co’s lion passant marks allocated to the period circa 1836-53 are of poor definition and outline, as well as accompanied by simple incuse tally marks (Wilkinson. W., (1973), Indian Colonial Silver – European silversmiths in India (1790-1860) and their marks, London: Argent Press. P.148-149). As a major supplier of silver wares in Calcutta, working from 3 Tank Square until 1836, thereafter 3 Hare Street, it is suggested that this firm may be the purveyor of this bowl. A rice bowl and cover, bearing the marks of William Henry Twentyman, the above firm’s founder, circa 1820 is illustrated (ibid., p. 131).

A blotter emblazoned with an impaled version of this coat of arms is in Florence Court (NT630941), it is unclear why these bowls have the Casamajor arms on an escutcheon of pretence (reserved for an heiress), as Jane had two married sisters with issue; Mary Christian Ram (b.1817) and Elizabeth Christian Gaussen (1821-1864). This coat of arms would have been valid from 1844 until 1865 when the 3rd Earl married again. A teapot in the 17th century Chinese style of 1838 by Messrs. Barnards with the same crest underneath is in the Florence Court Collection (NT631255) A drawing of Jane Casamaijor circa 1843 by Andrea Fleissner is in the collection Florence Court, County Fermanagh (NT630548), as well as a portrait miniature of her, British school (NT630890). Also, a portrait of the 3rd Earl circa 1830 by William Robinson (1799–1839), same collection (NT 631078).

James Archibald Casamajor or Casamaijor was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India in 1787 to James Henry Casamajor (1745-1815) and Elizabeth Rebecca Campbell, he was resident in Mysore from 1825-33, then Travancore (24 Jun 1833 – 1836) and Cochin (1836-1838). He entered the East India Company's service as a writer in 1803, in various other roles before taking over as registrar in Srirangapatna in 1809 and later became a judge there. On the 11th May 1832 he was appointed a member of council of Fort St George. Casamaijor left Travancore for ‘the hills’, presumably of Nilgiris (The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany vol 16 January-April 1835, London: Wm. H. Allen & Co, p. 247). Casamajor was a highly reputed judge in Madras known for philanthropy. They had returned to London by 1839 residing at Manchester Square (The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany vol 30 Sep-Dec 1839, London: Wm. H. Allen & Co, p. 64).

It is possible that this bowl was part of the Casamajor family collection, later decorated and used during the 1840’s for christening the various children of the Cole/Casamajor marriage. That or this bowl and the following lot are from the 3rd Earl’s own travels, the presence of the Barnard Chinese style teapot at least demonstrates an admiration for Asian style by the time of the 3rd Earl.