Kashmiri Silver-Gilt Tea Set

Three-Piece Silver Gilt ‘Kang-Style’ Tilted Tea Set

This unusual tilting tea set is decorated in the ‘shawl’ pattern infilled with kunj (leaf and flower) designs, a pattern unique to old Kashmiri silverware. Each piece is in the form of a kang, an earthenware vessel with origins in China and used across Asia, including Kashmir, to collect and hold rainwater. Kangs were made to sit on an angle so that ladles could more easily be inserted to scoop out the water.

Each piece sits on a flared foot. The handle of each is in the form of a snake, with that for the tea pot having two horn insulator segments to stop the handle from heating excessively.

Each piece has been gilded, although the gilding has worn in parts.

Overall, the set has an arresting, sculptural design, and is in thick gauge, high-grade silver.

a similar set is illustrated in Wilkinson, W.R.T., Indian Silver 1858-1947, 1999, p. 109. Also see Dehejia, V., Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj, Mapin, 2008.