Antique Anglo Indian, Vizagapatam, buffalo horn, fitted sewing box.
The radiating horn is molded and carved achieving a complex dramatic
shape. This is the Art of working with horn:
Created in small hierarchiced
workshops: buffalo horn was imported from nearby Jeypore
Zamindari.
These unnamed craftsmen had learned how to make a product which the
English market would buy. "Decorative artifacts were made by several craftsmen in 6 different teams working
for over 8 to 9 hours a day for a month."
Large
horns have been cut, softened by boiling then shaped by scraper,
lathe, and hand with abrasive.
A straight grained rosewood box with thick sides is first created. It
is then shaped; the tapers are in the construct.
The box is built from
elements, some manufactured by others in the group. The shape is
evolved from the English interpretation of the Classical art they were
being exposed to. The Indians created objects which
want to walk across the floor to meet you.
Origin: Vizagapatam,
India; Circa:
1835 ; Materials: Buffalo
horn, sandalwood on a rosewood structure.
Size: 33cm wide by 24cm by 21.5cm:
13 inches wide
by 9.5 inches by 8.5 inches.
Condition: good
overall; working lock and key; some cracking to horn see images