19th Century Anglo Indian Vizagapatam Sunburst Pattern Rectangular Box

Description

Gorgeous Anglo-Indian rectangular shaped trinket box in sunburst pattern.
Made in Vizagapatam, India in the 19th century, circa 1865.

The ... moreGorgeous Anglo-Indian rectangular shaped trinket box in sunburst pattern.
Made in Vizagapatam, India in the 19th century, circa 1865.

The box is constructed of sandalwood the covered in bone/faux ivory and rosewood in alternating sections in a sunburst pattern.

It is then inlaid with what is known as sadeli mosaic, mini geometric and star shaped mosaics made of pewter, silver, semi-precious green stone shards.

Sadeli mosaic is more common in pieces made in Bombay but these were definitely made in Vizagapatam using the Bombay influence of Sadeli. This is why we know they were made towards the mid-end of the 19th century, as earlier Vizagapatam pieces had their own definitive style.

The ancient art of Sadeli Mosaic is said to have been introduced from Shiraz in Persia via Sind to Bombay, a long time before the Anglo Indian boxes were made. It was a technique, which required a high degree of skill and patience. It was executed very lavishly, in that the frequent cuts wasted a great amount of the precious materials used. The workmanship was however more than commensurable to the value of the materials.

Ivory, silver, pewter (or other metals), wood and horn were cut into faceted rods which were bound together to form geometric patterns. When the glue has set, the rods were sliced in transverse sections. This gave the maker a number of angled circular pieces in the original pattern. Several variations of patterns could be achieved by combining the materials in different ways. The ivory was sometimes dyed green to give an extra colour.

The mosaic pieces in a combination of patterns, often separated by ivory, ebony, horn or silver stringing were used to veneer sandalwood boxes. In the early boxes, which date from the turn of the 18th-19th century, there are large panels of mosaic covering tops and sides of boxes. It took incredible skill to cover such large areas without any shakes or wavering of the pattern. The corners and joins on these boxes are impeccably matched.

Check out the Sunburst Octagonal Box that we also have in our Inventory as they make a great pair ! less