Portable writing table, Vizagapatam for the English market

Portable writing table, Vizagapatam for the English market

South India, late 19th - early 20th century

Rectangular case resting on four small feet, with bone-inlaid decoration, featuring on all three sides a symmetrical composition of almond-shaped palmettes, around a central floral roundel framed by a floral scroll. The sides are adorned with brass drop handles set in a frame with floral spandrels. Hinged lid with flap. The top flap, covered in garnet leather, swings up to reveal a compartment and a wooden writing-table decorated with a floral medallion with spandrels. The two-part sloping top, also covered in garnet leather, opens onto a hidden compartment. Six rows of document holders and three drawers with bone knobs, and a compartment serving as a pen tray, surrounded by two small square boxes. (Minor damage, minor restorations, leather in poor condition, key missing, knob missing). 30 x 40.2 cm The port of Vizagapatam, on India's east coast, was renowned from the late 17th century onwards for the skill of its craftsmen in the marquetry and inlaying of ivory and bone to cover a variety of objects. The popularity of these objects grew especially in England, thanks to the purchases that the directors of the East India Company brought back from their sojourns. Provenance : Private collection, Paris. A portable script casket, Vizagapatam for the English market, Southern India, late 19th - early 20th century