BOMBAY SCHOOL OF ART, BOMBAY, INDIA, CIRCA 1880

This large vase is an impressive example of Bombay pottery. It belongs to a fine group of ceramics produced at the Bombay School of Art in the workshop established in 1872 by its superintendent George Wilkins Terry. The school was founded by a wealthy Parsi patron, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy in 1853 and directed by Lockwood Kipling. Terry imported techniques from Sindh, a region in North East India which had a long ceramic tradition and many Sindhi floral motifs found their way to the Bombay ceramics. These fragile pieces were potted by Sindhi potters but decorated by the school’s students. As early as 1875-76, the ceramics came to be known as Wonderland Art Pottery or “Terryware” and many were supplied to important London dealers and features in the Great Exhibitions of the 1870s to the 1890s as the production flourished.

This vase is decorated with scenes inspired by the Ajanta Murals, a masterpiece of early Buddhist art. These murals were particularly popular in the 19th century and students of the School of Art copied them during study trips to the caves. However the overall style of the vase is particularly eclectic, with motifs inspired by Persian art, Mughal architecture and South Indian art. A number of Bombay ceramic examples are in the Victoria and Albert Museum (for instance IM.41-1917) but none have figural decoration such as the present vase. Another vase sold at Christie's King Street, 26 May 2016, lot 102.