AN ENGRAVED BRASS SPOUTED EWER WITH BLACK LAC INLAY
Possibly Lahore, Northern India, 18th and 19th centuries

Of compressed drop-like shape, resting on a faceted hexagonal splayed foot, with narrow shoulders rising to a faceted and ringed flared neck, surmounted by a hinged dome-like lid with a bud-shaped finial, the sides wid a sinuous handle and upward-curved spout, the 18th-century body presenting later additions on the foot, handle, lid and spout, the exterior engraved with floral decoration including rosette roundels, sprays and bouquets, foliage and vegetal trellis, some areas with residues of black lac inlay, 37cm high.

For two similar examples without lids, please see M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, 1997, cats. 227 and 228, p. 162.