ANTIQUE 20thC INDIAN SOLID SILVER SWAMI TEA SERVICE, MADRAS c.1900
20th Century Exceptional Indian silver large tea service, comprising of coffee pot, teapot, sugar bowl, cream jug, cutlery and a tray, each body is profusely and beautifully repousse' decorated with religious processions, a typical scenes from the Meenakshi Amman temple in southern India.
Reference Number: A8216
DESCRIPTION
Antique early-20th Century Exceptional Indian colonial solid silver large tea service, comprising of coffee pot, teapot, sugar bowl, cream jug, cutlery and a tray, each body is profusely and beautifully repousse' decorated with religious processions, a typical scenes from the Meenakshi Amman temple in southern India, depicting the story of Vishnu's decent to earth as Jagganath, lids mounted with finials depicting a seated Shiva, the tray with numerous panels depicting seated dieties and mounted around the edge with a cast beaded boarder and intertwining snake handles terminating with a seated frog. The set is hallmarked I.F.C a makers mark im not familiar with, it could possibly simply be the initials of the person who comissioned this set, also hallmarked with later French silver import marks.
Indian silver depicting deities and religious processions is inspired by the bas-reliefs on the famous temples in southern India and the style is called "Swami" (see Wilkinson). This style is typically from Madras and is often made by the famous firm P. Orr & Son, widely considered as the most important silversmith firm in Colonial South India, reputed to be the largest and best appointed establishment of the kind in India.
Other notable silversmiths who have used this style are C. Krishniah Chetty, Bangalore, a renowned jewellery brand based in Bangalore, India.
The group was founded in 1869, and is still run by the fifth and sixth generations of the C. Krishniah Chetty Family. The company was founded by Cotha Krishniah Chetty, who began selling coloured beads to the British Army on the first Commercial Street, of the then Cantonment Area. The company is famed for being the preferred jewellers to over 21 royal kingdoms including the Maharaja of Mysore, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Maharaja of Travancore, the Nawab of Savanur, the Maharaja of Sandur, the Maharaja of Dhrangadra and many royal families of south and central India. Today the group runs six stores across the city of Bangalore.
Some of the famous articles crafted by C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons include life size perambulators for princes, silver temple doors, inaugural keys and even a gold cricket bat for Sachin Tendulkar on his 35th Century. The company has been an innovator in the jewellery industry in India; they were the first to bring the famed Tolkowsky brand to India, the first to launch fancy coloured diamonds in India, the first to Launch DeBeers' Forevermark brand in India, and also the first store with the largest purely diamond showroom in all of Asia.
CONDITION
In Great Condition - No Damage.
SIZE
TRAY
Width: 66 x 40cm
Weight: 2665g
COFFEE POT
Height: 24cm
Width: 24 x 16cm
Weight: 1560g
TEAPOT
Height: 16cm
Width: 27 x 15cm
Weight: 1100g
SUGAR BOWL
Height: 15cm
Width: 22 x 13cm
Weight: 935g
CREAM JUG
Height: 16cm
Width: 14 x 9cm
Weight: 535g
BEAKER
Height: 10cm
Width: 7cm
Weight: 200g
CUTLERY
Longest Length: 19cm
Width: 4.5cm
Combined Weight: 195g