An unusual late 19th century Anglo - Indian Raj gilt copper and enamel twin handled porringer and cover, Kashmir circa 1880 - 1900

In the 17th century English Charles II silver style. Of baluster form with applied twin scroll handles, the domed cover with everted foot finial. The body with chased and carved intertwined scroll work heightened with prick dot decoration with opaque dark blue and turquoise enamel, below a band of tailing flower heads reserved in turquoise enamel.

Height – 15.5 cm / 6.25 inches

Length – 23 cm / 9 inches

This unusual hybrid of English silver revivalism and Raj metalworking aligns at a point where interest in 'ancient plate' became a focus in the second half of the 19th century. The seminal texts of authors Octavius Morgan, William Chaffers and in the beginning of the next century Sir Charles Jackson brought greater public awareness of hallmarks and the field of early silver. A notable exhibition in 1860 at the Ironmongers company exhibited much early silver and by the 1880's reproductions of Charles II to Queen Anne silver objects were becoming much more commonplace, notably by the firms of George Fox, Francis Higgins and George Lambert. It is therefore possible that this piece was privately commissioned by a British person in Colonial India or was made for exhibition alongside English silver originals / copies. An example of a Charles II porringer and cover of this form of 1668 is illustrated Wees, B. C., (1997), English Irish & Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, New York: Hudson Hill Press Inc. p. 68-9.

“Occasionally, silver made in Kashmir was enamelled in the same manner as the locally made copper wares. (…) The bright colours used in the enamel work were intended to imitate the precious or semi-precious stones that were sometimes used on more expensive pieces.” Wilkinson, W., (1999)., Indian Silver 1858-1947: Decorative Silver from the Indian Sub-Continent and Burma Made by Local Craftsmen in Western Forms. London, Wynyard R T Wilkinson, P. 106.