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Parasol Handle, Silver, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Southern India, ca. 1875-1900.

REGISTERED ANTIQUITY – NON-EXPORTABLE ITEM.

 

Object Detail

 

This silver parasol handle, crafted in Chennai between 1875 and 1900, belongs to the well-known style of “Swami silver.”  The handle is long and slightly tapering, made to serve as the finial grip of a parasol—a common accessory for British ladies in India at the end of the nineteenth century. Beyond its practical function of shade, the parasol was also a marker of style and social status. The design is organised into horizontal registers. Each register contains repoussé figures of Hindu deities, placed inside medallions framed with stylised lotus petals. The deities stand frontally in high relief, their upper hands holding lotuses while their lower hands are posed in mudrās—likely abhaya (gesture of protection) and varada (gesture of blessing). The tradition followed in crafting the swami style silverware.

 

The repetition of these figures along the shaft creates a strong sense of rhythm and verticality, echoing the upward thrust of the parasol pole itself. Between the registers, floral rosettes and beaded borders provide visual breaks, keeping the composition lively and ordered. The top and bottom ends are finished with leaf-and-petal motifs, recalling the borders of temple columns. The very top of the handle forms a rounded dome, practical as a grip but also serving as a symbolic closure to the whole composition.

 

Swami silver objects first appeared in Madras in the 19th century, often on teapots and tableware, before extending to personal accessories like this parasol handle. They earned their name because of their prominent depiction of swamis (gods), turning devotional figures into decoration for colonial luxury objects. Such artefacts are noted by George Watt’s Indian Art at Delhi (Delhi Durbar Exhibition, 1903) records umbrella handles in different materials, pointing to their cultural presence.

 

Provenance

 

From a Private Collection in Mumbai, India.

 

Condition

 

Good Condition with minor wear.

 

Dimension

 

Literature Comparison

 

1.Makers: Michael Evlampievich Perchin; House of Fabergé, Parasol Handle, circa 1886-1903, gold, enamel, diamonds, platinum filigree; 8.5 cm × 3.2 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John B. Black, 2018.226, Cleveland, Ohio. https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.226.

 

2.Vidya Dehejia, Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj (Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 2008).

 

3.George Watt, Indian Art at Delhi, 1903: Being the Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition, 1902–1903 (Delhi: Central Printing Office, 1903).

 

4.Makers: Michael Evlampievich Perchin; House of Fabergé, Parasol Handle, circa 1886-1903, gold, enamel, diamonds, platinum filigree; 8.5 cm × 3.2 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John B. Black, 2018.226, Cleveland, Ohio. https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.226.

 

5.“Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, September 17 – December 13, 2008,” Columbia University. https://www.columbia.edu/cu/wallach/exhibitions/Delight-in-Design.html.

 

6.Mughal and Early Modern Metalware from South Asia at LACMA: An Online Scholarly Catalogue, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accessed September 11, 2025, https://www.academia.edu/44937355/Mughal_and_Early_Modern_Metalware_from_South_Asia_at_LACMA_An_Online_Scholarly_Catalogue.

 

7.“Large Indian Swami Silver Umbrella Handle, Madras, c.1900,” Silverspoon Antiques, accessed September 11, 2025, https://www.silverspoonantiques.com.au/products/large-indian-swami-silver-umbrella-handle-madras-c-1900.

 

 

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