Page 87 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

~70
AN ANGLO-INDIAN IVORY-INLAID EBONY personalised. Vizagapatam was a fine natural harbour
TOILET GLASS a regular port of call on trading routes. It was also
VIZAGAPATAM, INDIA, CIRCA 1720-30 renowned for its cabinet-making industry which
combined western forms with Indian ornamentation,
Decorated overall with scrolling flowering vines, with
in particular inlaying wood with floral designs in ivory,
a hinged flap concealing a desk top and four small
drawers and compartments, and a front drawer the ivory being engraved and highlighted with lac,
concealing thirteen compartments, four of which as seen in our example (Amin Jaffer, Furniture from
contain small lidded boxes, surmounted by two British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, pp. 172-175).
uprights with ivory finials and an arch above a framed
mirror, silvered brass mounts, overall good condition Wooden furniture produced in Vizagapatam is
22¿ x 11 x 32Ωin. (56 x 28 x 82.5cm.) characterised by ivory decoration which usually takes
the form of dense trailing flowers, large densely
£15,000-20,000 US$21,000-28,000
foliated trees issuing from urns and fantastic animals
€18,000-23,000
and birds inlaid on teak, padouk, rosewood or ebony
PROVENANCE: which were all readily available in the port. Our piece,
Bonhams, London, 19 April 2007, lot 417 with its profuse inlay of floral motifs and arched mirror
plate, is among the earliest known examples of its
This toilet glass is one among a small group of related
type. A very similar example of comparable early date
examples originating from the East Indian port of
is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Vizagapatam in the first half of the 18th century.
(inv.no.49.1905). An exceptional Vizagapatam cabinet
A toilet glass is a small cabinet with a swinging
was sold in these Rooms, 7 July, 2011, lot 14.
mirror which usually sat on a lady's dressing table.
Such furniture was often highly decorative and