Tracancore Chukram Counting Board

Carved Ivory Money Counting Board for 42 Chukrams & Silver Chukrams

Travancore, South India

19th century

dimensions: 8.5cm x 6cm

This rare item comprises a carved ivory money counting board used in the South Indian Kingdom of Travancore to count the local currency, the chukram. The board was used to count out 42 chukrams at a time. The board here comes with 42 chukrams.

The top of the board is carved with pierced, leafy scrollwork, around a central sacred conch.

Each chukram is a tiny, silver pellet cast roughly with a some motifs and numbers. They were issued by the mint of the princely Travancore state. This state no longer exists as a separate entity. It covered most of modern-day Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu.

Such boards were used by dipping them into a container of chukram coins and then shaking the board with the coins on top until a coin had settled into each hole. The excess would then be shaken off.

Ivory chukram counting boards are very rare; few surviving examples are known. An ivory example for 100 chukrams was shown at the Delhi Exhibition of 1902-03, and is illustrated in the exhibition’s catalogue (See Watt, 1903, plate no. 41).

The example here is in excellent condition and is without cracks, repairs or chips.

References

Watt, G., Indian Art at Delhi 1903, Being the Official Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition, 1902-1903, Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1903.

Provenance

UK art market

Inventory no.: 2454

SOLD