Mughal Indian Ewer

This exceptional Mughal ewer cast in copper alloy has a bulbous body, a tapering neck, and a curving spout. The gadrooned body, reminiscent of many ribbed Indian lotas, is elegantly graved with floral and foliage motifs. The spout is also gadrooned and engraved and terminates in a perfectly cast feline head. The wavy handle, also engraved, similarly terminates in a feline head and in a makhara head at the lower end. The ewer stands on four short feet. The hinged cover terminates in an engraved flower bud and has other engraving that recalls lotus petal motifs present in other Indian brass and bronze ware. The base is similarly engraved.

A related ewer is in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (inventory no. 90.120), although the Virginia example has less extensive engraving.

The Virginia example is illustrated in The Arts of India: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2001, p. 400. Another related example (missing its cover) that is in the collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. No. I.7079) is illustrated in Zebrowski, M., Gold, Silver & Bronze From Mughal India, Alexandria Press, 1997, p. 164.