Gilded Heritage & Pure Silver Artefacts
Wood, Silver and Gilt from a Century of Indian Craft
Objects made by hand, in a particular decade and place, carry a discipline no reproduction can recover. From 1946 Kerala: temple sculptures and sanctuary furnishings in heavy hardwood - Hanuman crouched in vigilance, Nandi crowned in serpent relief, the Annam bird mid-flight, Mahakala gilded and ferocious, the boar-faced Panjurli mask drawn from Bhuta Kola ritual worship. Gilded mirrors, spiralled candle stands and starburst wall sculpture carry a Baroque-Regency sensibility, while gold-plated brass monstrances and reliquaries bring ecclesiastical weight to the same era, their sunburst haloes catching light the way an altar catches devotion.
Alongside: vintage pure silver from 1920s–30s Gujarat and Rajasthan, the same discipline turned intimate - boxes in dense repoussé, meenakari caskets enamelled in blue and ochre, ritual plaques cast with lions and elephants, gulabpash sprinklers that once perfumed a court in bloom.
Wood or silver, every piece keeps its patina - pigment softened by age, metal darkened by handling. Not ornament. Relic.
