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拍品專文
This spectacular processional carriage (char) complete with two silver horses and topped by a silver flag was made for the Maharaja of Bikaner and while it appears to be solely decorative, it is completely functional; the wheels are even fitted with steel rims. The upper canopied section detaches completely allowing it to also be used akin to a palanquin or howda. The two horses can be unhitched, allowing something more practical, and then reattached for display. This carriage was intended to carry two children dressed as Krishna and Radha, possibly during the annual Ratha Yatra (chariot festival).
Records of European visitors to Indian palaces of the 16th century record the presence of silver covered wood furniture (Amin Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, p.226). However, surviving examples suggest that the practice became particular popular later in the Rajput courts under the East India Company and later British influence. By the mid-19thcentury the production of silver covered furniture was common practice in the royal courts of Rajasthan. Most often the forms imitated Western models with Indian decoration such as a regency style four-poster bed sold at Bonhams London, 28 September 2011, lot 73. In the present lot this is reversed with the form of the carriage purely Indian but with European forms and decorative motifs creeping in. Of particular note is the imitation armorial backrest with two flanking lions which recalls the imitation armorials found on a late 19th century royal silver table from Udaipur, sold in these Rooms 10 June 2015, lot 97.
Records of European visitors to Indian palaces of the 16th century record the presence of silver covered wood furniture (Amin Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, p.226). However, surviving examples suggest that the practice became particular popular later in the Rajput courts under the East India Company and later British influence. By the mid-19thcentury the production of silver covered furniture was common practice in the royal courts of Rajasthan. Most often the forms imitated Western models with Indian decoration such as a regency style four-poster bed sold at Bonhams London, 28 September 2011, lot 73. In the present lot this is reversed with the form of the carriage purely Indian but with European forms and decorative motifs creeping in. Of particular note is the imitation armorial backrest with two flanking lions which recalls the imitation armorials found on a late 19th century royal silver table from Udaipur, sold in these Rooms 10 June 2015, lot 97.