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Wine Flask (Surahi), Silver, Possibly Bhowanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, Eastern India, ca. 1890-1910.

REGISTERED ANTIQUITY – NON-EXPORTABLE ITEM.

 

Object Detail

 

Surahis, with their slim necks and graceful profiles, are vessels designed to serve water much like a pitcher. The surahi here stands on a broad, slightly raised base that supports the rounded belly. Rising above is the tall, tapering neck that ends in a flared mouth for pouring. At the transition between the neck and the belly, a circular protruding band has been added—likely intended as a gripping point, making it easier to hold the vessel while serving. Just beside it sits a small hook, which would have once held a chain connecting the body to the lid. Now, the chain is missing in this object.

 

The lid, now detached, is domed and crowned with a bud-shaped finial, completing the vessel’s vertical silhouette and ensuring it reads as both a utilitarian object and an ornamented art piece. Here, the silversmith employed repoussé to create a continuous frieze in high relief. The decoration unfolds like a panoramic story of rural Bengal: palm trees rise vertically to punctuate the composition, thatched huts anchor the scene with architectural rhythm, and human figures appear in lively gestures—carrying pots, tending animals, or engaged in everyday tasks of pastoral life.

 

As Vidya Dehejia observes, although many such pieces were produced for European patrons, their decoration often dwelt on local village life, sometimes in almost cartoon-like representations. This gives the surahi a fascinating hybridity: an object made for the colonial table, yet adorned with imagery deeply rooted in Bengali identity. Above the crowded frieze, the neck and shoulder are treated with restraint. Bands of floral scrolls and creepers provide a visual pause, balancing the density below. Notably, the silversmith has also included a band of acanthus leaves—a motif derived from Greco-Roman art and popular in colonial India.

 

It is possible that the surahi was crafted in the workshop of Girish Chunder Dutt, the celebrated silversmith of Bhowanipore, Calcutta (active 1872–1947). What makes the object even more remarkable is its rarity. While surahis from Lucknow are well documented—often in chased and parcel-gilded silver—scarce ‘visual’ examples from Bengal have been recorded.  This particular example, therefore, stands out as a rare survival, offering invaluable evidence of Bengal’s contribution to the silver traditions of colonial India.

 

 

Provenance

 

From a Private Collection in Mumbai, India.

 

Condition

 

Small dent on the exterior. Overall in good condition.

 

Dimension

 

Literature Comparison

 

1.Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan and Shivani Gupta, Pukka Indian: 100 Objects That Define India (New Delhi: Lustre Press, Roli Books, 2017).

 

2.Michael Backman Ltd, “Indian Colonial Silver Calcutta,” Michael Backman Ltd, accessed September 10, 2025, https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/archived_objects/indian-colonial-silver-calcutta/.

 

3.Michael Backman Ltd, Lucknow Silver Surahi, Water Flask, India – Scottish Influence, c. 1880, accessed September 10, 2025, https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/archived_objects/lucknow-silver-surahi-water-flask-india-scottish-influence/

 

4.Pushkin Antiques, Indian Monumental Solid Silver Ewer, Calcutta, c. 1900, accessed September 10, 2025, Pushkin Archive, https://pushkins.com/indian-archive/?itemId=antique-20thc-indian-monumental-solid-silver-ewer-calcutta-c1900.

 

5.Charles Moore Fine Arts, “Silver in the City of Palaces, Grish Chunder Dutt,” Charles Moore Fine Arts, accessed September 10, 2025, https://cmfinearts.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/silver-in-the-city-of-palaces-grish-chunder-dutt/

 

6.First Image- Sir George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India, vol. 1 (London: Chapman & Hall for the Committee of Council on Education, 1880).

 

7.Second Image- Stephen Markel, Mughal and Early Modern Metalware from South Asia at LACMA: An Online Scholarly Catalogue (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020).

 

8.Rustam Jehangir Mehta, The Handicrafts and Industrial Arts of India: A Pictorial and Descriptive Survey of Indian Craftsmanship as Seen in Masterpieces (Bombay: D.B. Taraporevala’s Treasure House of Books, 1960).

 

 

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