Teapot Adorned with Scenes of Rural Life

Gallery 329, Asian Art, third floor (Lahiri Gallery)

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Teapot Adorned with Scenes of Rural Life

c. 1890-1900

Grish Chunder Dutt (Indian, active late 19th–early 20th century)

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), in the eastern Indian region of Bengal, long served as the British colonial capital. For most of the nineteenth century, silversmiths in Kolkata catered to British tastes, producing wares with simple lines and minimal embellishment. However, in the months leading up to the great Calcutta International Exhibition of 1883, a community of artisans pioneered a new type of luxury silverware covered with detailed depictions of rural scenes and festivals.

This design shift may have been driven by a desire to fashion a more distinctly recognizable mode of silverware for the global market. Ironically, these images were largely inspired by paintings and photographs produced by British travelers to the region, displaying an idealized view of village life that fused the pastoral with the exotic. In this teapot, an “exotic” cobra wraps around the handle above a body covered in peaceful rural scenes.

Gallery 329, Asian Art, third floor (Lahiri Gallery)

Object Details

Title:

Teapot Adorned with Scenes of Rural Life

Date:

c. 1890-1900

Artist:

Grish Chunder Dutt (Indian, active late 19th–early 20th century)

Medium:

Silver with repousse work and ivory

Dimensions:

7 1/2 x 10 x 6 3/4 inches (19.1 x 25.4 x 17.1 cm)

Classification:

Containers

Credit Line:

Gift of Joan K. Short, 2007

Accession Number:

2007-111-1

Geography:

Made in Bhowanipore, Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), West Bengal, Bengal Region, India, Asia

Context:

Dynasty: British Raj (1858-1947)

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Gallery 329, Asian Art, third floor (Lahiri Gallery)

Main Building

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