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Bhuj, Kutch, India, ca. 1890
Pencil drawings on “Dorling & Co., London” watermarked paper, with OM ink signature and stamp on reverse.
The actual silver biscuit box created from this design is now in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.
Provenance: Paul E. Walter
Published: Delight in Design, Vidya Dehejia, pp. 133, 135.
• Kashmir
• Calcutta
• Madras
• Lucknow
• Other Regions
• Home
Two Oomersee Mawji's (Mawjee's) Design Drawing
Bhuj, Kutch, India, ca. 1890
OM ink signature and stamp on reverse
Dimension: 8 1/2 in. x 13 ¼ in. (21.6 x 33. 7 cm)
The actual silver biscuit box created from this design is now in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.
Provenance: Paul E. Walter
Published: Delight in Design, Vidya Dehejia, pp. 133, 135.
Oomersee Mawji's (Mawjee's) Drawing for a Silver Tray
Bhuj, Kutch, India, ca. 1890
OM ink signature on reverse
Dimension: 9 in. x 13 ¼ in. (22.9 x 33. 7 cm)
From humble beginnings, born into the cobblers’ caste in Bhuj, in the Kutch region of Gujarat, Oomersee Mawji became the most celebrated Indian silversmith of the Raj period and the court silversmith to the Maharajah of Kutch. Today, many scholars consider him the greatest silversmith of the nineteenth century.
Mawji’s trademark designs were intricate, densely scrolling vines and animal motifs. He produced not only magnificent répoussé and chased silver objects, but also objects of silver and gold that incorporated exotic materials such as mother-of-pearl, ebony, ivory, boars’ teeth, and tigers’ claws.
Examples from Oomersee Mawji’s workshop are included in such collections as the Victoria & Albert and the British museums in London, the Musée Guimet in Paris, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum.
16 Oomersee Mawji's (Mawjee's) 18 x 24 inches Design Drawings
 |
Left: Original OM drawing; Right: Extracted details of the drawing
on left
|
36 Raghavji Mawji's 18 x 24 inches
Design Drawings
This collector has recently had the good fortune to have come into some thirty-six original drawings by a great, but lesser-known Mawji, Raghavji Mawji. Sadly, most of the drawings are in very poor condition, but, since their like will not be seen again, having them, even in their deteriorated condition, allows us a glimpse into the atelier of a great genius among silversmiths.
Raghavji Mawji, like Oomersee Mawji (Mawjee), was from Kutch. It is not known if the two were related, but both came from the cobbler caste, having likely transitioned from crafting metal-decorated leather objects, such as shields, to silversmithing. Raghavji’s silver typically bears the intaglio “MR BHUJ.”
Raghavji’s drawing exhibit a more monumental sort of style than Oomersee’s pieces, and they encompass such large pieces as could only have been designed for the like of imperial courts, with such features as tri-footed vessels and boxes bearing, not simply repoussé animal designs, but entire miniature sculptures to support them, and also include more extensive references to Hindu mythology (references that seem not to be in Oomersee’s work).
Some of the drawings bear Mawji’s own stamps; others, while definitely from his studio, are unstamped. The finest among them not only bear his stamp, but are shaded to give a three-dimensional quality, and are drawn on woven silk, with hand-drawn borders, as if they might have been intended to stand as artwork on their own—which, indeed, they do. The approximate size of all the drawings, whether on silk or paper, is 18” x 24”.
A few of the drawings—for pieces intended to be parcel-gilt—use yellow in addition to the black ink, to indicate areas to be gilded, and many of the drawings bear handwritten notations of the finished pieces’ weight, in tolas, of silver, along with the prices in rupees.
Insofar as the subjects go, the designs encompass a variety of tastes for a variety of markets. For the Edwardian British market, there are tea services, tazzas, trays, sword handles, and ladies’ parasol handles.
For the Indian-royalty or -temple market, there are pieces—such as made by Oomersee Mawji for his Hindu patron, the Maharajah of Bhuj—like rosewater sprinklers (fuldanis), temple swings for idols, water pots (kalesha), cylindrical document-holders, and betel-nut boxes (pandans).
Unlike Oomersee Mawji, whose designs seem to have been mostly fauna—with the human form used only rarely, and then only in combat with beasts—Raghavji uses human forms often, along with those of birds and beasts.
Raghavji received the third prize with a bronze medal for his candlestick No. 1253, at the Indian art exhibition widely known as Ajaib Ghar or “The House of Wonder: Silver at the Delhi Durbar Exhibition of 1903.”
No attempt is made here to give detailed descriptions of so many drawings, and, with the exceptions, above, of observations made concerning overarching characteristics, no description is necessary.
J. Hamilton
Pen-and-Ink Drawings
Ink on India paper with blind stamp: “Rolland Frères Bordeaux.”
Ca. 1850.
Hamilton & Co., Calcutta
1. Ewer Pen-and-Ink Drawing
Inscribed: “Rough Sketch of a very handsome Silver Claret Jug, R450/, J Hamilton & Co.”
Dimensions: approx. 16 1/2 in. x 10 1/4 in. / 42 x 26 cm.
2. Tankard Pen-and-Ink Drawing
Raghavji Mawji, like Oomersee Mawji (Mawjee), was from Kutch. It is not known if the two were related, but both came from the cobbler caste, having likely transitioned from crafting metal-decorated leather objects, such as shields, to silversmithing. Raghavji’s silver typically bears the intaglio “MR BHUJ.”
Raghavji’s drawing exhibit a more monumental sort of style than Oomersee’s pieces, and they encompass such large pieces as could only have been designed for the like of imperial courts, with such features as tri-footed vessels and boxes bearing, not simply repoussé animal designs, but entire miniature sculptures to support them, and also include more extensive references to Hindu mythology (references that seem not to be in Oomersee’s work).
Some of the drawings bear Mawji’s own stamps; others, while definitely from his studio, are unstamped. The finest among them not only bear his stamp, but are shaded to give a three-dimensional quality, and are drawn on woven silk, with hand-drawn borders, as if they might have been intended to stand as artwork on their own—which, indeed, they do. The approximate size of all the drawings, whether on silk or paper, is 18” x 24”.A few of the drawings—for pieces intended to be parcel-gilt—use yellow in addition to the black ink, to indicate areas to be gilded, and many of the drawings bear handwritten notations of the finished pieces’ weight, in tolas, of silver, along with the prices in rupees.
Insofar as the subjects go, the designs encompass a variety of tastes for a variety of markets. For the Edwardian British market, there are tea services, tazzas, trays, sword handles, and ladies’ parasol handles.
For the Indian-royalty or -temple market, there are pieces—such as made by Oomersee Mawji for his Hindu patron, the Maharajah of Bhuj—like rosewater sprinklers (fuldanis), temple swings for idols, water pots (kalesha), cylindrical document-holders, and betel-nut boxes (pandans).
Unlike Oomersee Mawji, whose designs seem to have been mostly fauna—with the human form used only rarely, and then only in combat with beasts—Raghavji uses human forms often, along with those of birds and beasts.
Raghavji received the third prize with a bronze medal for his candlestick No. 1253, at the Indian art exhibition widely known as Ajaib Ghar or “The House of Wonder: Silver at the Delhi Durbar Exhibition of 1903.”
No attempt is made here to give detailed descriptions of so many drawings, and, with the exceptions, above, of observations made concerning overarching characteristics, no description is necessary.
J. Hamilton's Design Drawings
From the famous Calcutta silversmiths who served the British Raj. This exquisite drawing would likely have been sent out to one of the firm’s clients on approval.
This design for an ewer, in the narrow-necked, full-bodied shape of such pieces at the time, bears a motif of vines and grapes, with the woody extension of the vine curving up and forming the handle. As with the tankard, the drawing is beautifully rendered and is a work of art in itself
The design for the covered tankard is a piece of fine art in itself. The piece is perfectly proportioned and bears a slightly baroque scrolling design of flowers and leaves.
The design for the covered tankard is a piece of fine art in itself. The piece is perfectly proportioned and bears a slightly baroque scrolling design of flowers and leaves.
Pen-and-Ink Drawings
Ink on India paper with blind stamp: “Rolland Frères Bordeaux.”
Ca. 1850.
Hamilton & Co., Calcutta
1. Ewer Pen-and-Ink Drawing
Inscribed: “Rough Sketch of a very handsome Silver Claret Jug, R450/, J Hamilton & Co.”
Blind stamp on paper: “Rolland Frères Bordeaux.”
2. Tankard Pen-and-Ink Drawing
Inscribed: “Rough Sketch of a very handsome Tankard R225/, J Hamilton & Co.”
Dimensions: approx. 10 1/2 in. x 8 1/4 in. / 26.6 x 21 cm
Dimensions: approx. 10 1/2 in. x 8 1/4 in. / 26.6 x 21 cm
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