An enamelled silver-gilt pandan
Lucknow, 18th/ 19th Century
of circular form comprised of three hinged sections, the base with six teardrop compartments with hinged lids decorated in green enamel, the central section a circular compartment, the hinged lid of domed form with bud finial unscrewing to become a small spoon, hinged clasp to front, decorated in polychrome enamel with floral sprays, fish and birds, old label to interior describing function of spoon finial
12.8 cm. high; 588 g.
Footnotes:
For a pandan of similar form and dated to the early 19th Century, see Mughal Silver Magnificence, p. 145, Cat. 212. Comparable decoration can also be found on a spice box from Lucknow in the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art and a huqqa base from a Private Collection, both dated to the 18th Century, illustrated in M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, pp. 84-85, Cat. 70a & b & 71.