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Bidriware Plate, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, North-Eastern India, ca.1880.

REGISTERED ANTIQUITY – NON-EXPORTABLE ITEM.

 

Object Detail

 

A silver-inlaid bidri plate, Lucknow, North India, of circular form, finely inlaid with smiling, swimming fish and leafy branches, the surface dotted with raised points. This Plate with Emblematic Pairs of Fish (mahi-ye maratib), Lucknow, Awadh, Uttar Pradesh, circa 1880, is of Zarbuland technique.

 

Considered a style of metalwork, bidri wares typically have silver or brass inlays against a dark, zinc-based alloy. The plate is rendered using the Zarbuland technique, common in Lucknow, which actually results in the inlaid metals standing scarcely above the surface and giving a bold and quite raised effect.

 

It displays a pair of fish, the traditional ‘mahi-ye maratib’, or Fish of Dignity, symbolic of high rank and conferred by Mughal emperors. These are encircled by florid motifs with flowers, vines, and foliage, which reflect the fine skill that unites the Islamic and Mughal artistic traditions. Such ornamentation in silver stands out from the dark and blackened base of the metal to reveal the engraver’s and inlayer’s exactitude. The work reflects both the luxury of courtly culture and the skilful adaptation of functional metalware into ornamental art.

 

The primary decoration on this bidri ware plate is a pair of fish arranged head-to-head with their curved bodies forming a circle. Known as the mahi-ye maratib (Fish of Dignity), it was an insignia of exalted rank that the Mughal emperors and earlier Middle Eastern rulers bestowed upon their subordinate chieftains in recognition of valorous military service. In 1720, it was awarded by the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah (reign 1719–1748) to Saadat Khan, the Governor of Agra (Akbarabad), who soon became the Governor of Lucknow from 1722 to 1739.

 

The fish emblem subsequently served as the dynastic leitmotif of the Lucknow court and was frequently displayed on its decorative arts and palatial architecture. It was represented in state processions as a fish and two gilt globes carried on a standard. A heraldic form consisting of a pair of honorific mermaids bearing a crown and flanking a shield was used as the personal coat of arms of King Wajid Ali Shah (r. 1847–56). Bidri ware is made from a predominantly zinc-based alloy, along with smaller amounts of lead, copper, and/or tin. The ornamentation of bidri-ware from the Deccan and eastern India typically features inlaid silver sheet or wire designs, which are rendered, flush and burnished. Lucknow bidri ware is distinctive in that it is often executed in bold relief (Zarbuland technique), in which the inlaid metals are allowed to remain protruding slightly above the surface and are then adorned with sheet overlay and incised motifs.

 

Provenance

 

From a Private Collection in Mumbai, India.

 

Condition

 

Good condition with minor wear.

 

Dimension

 

Diameter – 15 cm.

 

Literature Comparison

 

1. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Plate with Emblematic pairs of fish (mahi – ye – maratib), Awadh, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. https://collections.lacma.org/node/203887

 

2. Chahar Gulshan, book 2, British Library manuscript, Or. 1791, fol. 88. The text is a history of India written in Persian in 1759 but apparently compiled in c. 1720. This brief history of a survey of Mughal provinces is the earliest known account of bidri ware. Quoted and discussed in Susan Stronge “Metalwork: Bidri Ware,” in Islamic Heritage of the Deccan, George Michell, ed., Bombay, Marg Publications, 1986, p. 111; and Susan Stronge, Bidri Ware: Inlaid Metalwork from India, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985, pp. 15-16.

https://www.academia.edu/4034822/Bidri_ware_in_LACMA_Lyric_Patterns

 

3. Bidri ware [in LACMA]: Lyric Patterns,Stephen Markel 1992, Golconda and Hyderabad, pp. 45-56. Edited by S. Safrani. Bombay: Marg Publications, 1992.

https://www.academia.edu/4034822/Bidri_ware_in_LACMA_Lyric_Patterns

 

4. The technical examination of bidri ware, August 1987. Studies in Conservation 32(3):97-101, Author: Susan La Niece, Published by British Museum.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320044637_The_technical_examination_of_bidri_ware

 

5. Salar Jung Museum, 200 pieces of Bidriware objects at display. https://www.salarjungmuseum.in/Bidri-ware.html

 

6. Bidriware from various parts of India in the collection of Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art https://www.mittalmuseum.com/metalware/

 

 

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