Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 129Ф,Y
A Vizagapatam ivory-inlaid wood box South India, 18th Century
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £3,200 inc. premium
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A Vizagapatam ivory-inlaid wood box
South India, 18th Century
South India, 18th Century
of rectangular form with hinged lid, the interior with six compartments and five drawers, profusely inlaid in ivory, the exterior with floral scrollwork, the inner lid with vases issuing floral sprays
50.9 x 36.3 x 13 cm.
50.9 x 36.3 x 13 cm.
Footnotes
At the end of the 17th Century, a cabinet-making industry emerged at Vizagapatam, a port on the Coromandel Coast, perfectly situated for the necessary raw materials in addition to local technical expertise. Ivory was initially employed for inlay and borders, as in the present lot, which started to change in the mid-eighteenth century when large slices began to be used as veneers. For further discussion, see A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon , London, 2001, pp. 172-175. A box of similar form featuring floral scrollwork is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 482-1903).
The item within this lot containing ivory has been registered in accordance with the Ivory Act (Section 10), reference no. P2VCH62K.