Oliver White
Head of Department
Lot 302
A repoussé silver Tea Service in the form of three Black Francolins by Oomersi Mawji, Baroda, circa 1920-30 (3)
23 April 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £10,000
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A repoussé silver Tea Service in the form of three Black Francolins by Oomersi Mawji, Baroda, circa 1920-30
modelled as Black Francolins (also known as Black Partridge) standing on snakes, textured all over with a scalloped pattern and with large feathers detailed on the wings; the large francolin as teapot with its head hinging open along the beak to serve as spout and the serpent's tail entwined around its neck serving as handle with ivory insulators; small francolin with hinged head and raised wings as milk jug, the other as sugar bowl with hinged back, the base of smaller francolins with marker's mark in cameo punches: 'O.M BARODA', height the largest 23cm, weight (total) 1527gms. (3)
Footnotes
The tea service was made in the workshop of one of the sons of Oomersi Mawji who was employed at the court of His Highness Maharaja Sayaji Rao III, the Gaekwad ruler of Baroda, in the 1920s and 30s. For another example of a three piece tea service in the form of birds from the Baroda workshop, see V. Dehejia, Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj, Ahmedabad, 2008, pp. 92-93, cat.no. 23. A service of the same subject by Oomersi Mawji (Bhuj) sold in these rooms on April 24, 2012, lot 220.