lota (water container (food service))

Water vessel, lota, engraved with scrolling vegetal and floral motifs all over the surface in a Gangajamuna two-colour, gold- and silver-coloured pattern on a black lac background. The body is decorated in one horizontal band, the neck in another. The body is slightly flattened and globular, with a short, straight neck, and flat rim.

'This is not bidri ware. It was made in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. This object was probably made in the 1880s, it is quite possibly an example of Ganga-Jumna wear, so named because the different colours of metal expressed in the decoration reflect the mixing of the Ganges and Jumna rivers.'

Collection Information

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