Enamel hilt - age and place

Jens Nordlunde · 27th March 2006, 04:11 PM

Hi Tim,
It is most likely 19th century, but I think you are wrong when you say Deccan, Hyderabad. I think it is more likely Rajasthan/Mewar, due to the colours the different districts were specializing in, mentioned in Jacob and Hendley’s book ‘Jeypore Enamels’, and due to the fact that the finest centres for enamel lay to the north.
There are a few interesting things about this hilt. Mostly when you see a tulwar hilt it has the same decoration all over, but not this one, as the hilt, the top of the disc and the dome have the same decorations and colours, but under the disc the decoration and the colours are quite different, here it is clearly a water plant, single petal lotus’s most likely, with butterflies. I have often wondered when I saw a different decoration on the underside of the disc. Why was it made differently, so only the owner could see it, and then only when he turned the tulwar upside down? It must have been more expensive due to the bigger number of colours, as it would have to go more time into the oven for the melting process, so it must have had a special meaning to the owner. You now and again see the same change in decoration on hilts decorated in koft gari.

Hi Brian,
Another thing, which makes me say north India, is the transparency and the way the colours are fating, this was very difficult to make, and I think it was only made in the north. For a long time the enamellers could not make the past themselves, so they got it from Lucknow – but it was the furnace job which made the difference.

Tim Simmons · 27th March 2006, 04:23 PM

Beautiful work. I do not know anything about the colours or enameling centers. I was just guessing on the form of the decoration which is very different from the Northern/Kashmir enameled kard you post for discussion some time ago. Wonderful condition on the handle anyway.

B.I · 27th March 2006, 04:27 PM

hi jens
am happy to defer to your theories, especially the date on seeing the pommel underside. i know the sword of course, but have a bad memory :-)
hendleys book is great (all of them, but the jeypore enamels that you refer to especially) but like egerton, he must be taken cautiosly. both he and egerton spent much time in india, studying a subject they were both obviously very passionate about, but neither spent much time in the south. also, both studied mainly the arts of the time, of course delving into the past where applicable. the south was never studied properly and only recently have many theories of the past been brough to task.
still, in saying that i am still happy to defer to your opinion, but would like to know where the rajesthan colours information came from (was this hendley?)

Jens Nordlunde · 28th March 2006, 02:22 PM

Hi Brian,

I don’t only have it from Hendley and Egerton. I have the book ‘Indian Art at Delhi 1903’ by George Watt which is the official catalogue and guide to the exhibition held at Delhi. As any kind of art from all over India was represented at the exhibition, this should give us an idea of how frequent the different types of art were represented in the different regions. That a region was not represented with enamel work at the exhibition does not mean that enamel work could not have been made there, I would however think that if nice enamel work had been made in a region it would have been sent it to the exhibition.

Here are the names he mentions in the index. ‘Bernares, Bhawalpur, Bhuj, Bombay (school of art), Chamba, Delhi, Hazara, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Kach, Kangra, Kashmir, Lahore, Lucknow and Multan.’

I won’t say that enamel was not made in south India, as I don’t know, but it seems as if, at least most of it was made in Punjab and Rajasthan, and I agree with you that Hendley was very fond of the northern part of India, so it is likely that he would prefer to write about enamel and other works from this area. With Watt it was somewhat different, as he was the author of the official catalogue for the 1903 exhibition, he had to deal with everything sent to the exhibition. It would however be interesting, as you suggest, to dig into enamels from the south, to see what is to be found – V&A would be a good place to start

.

There is one more thing I should mention about the hilt, and that is that the dome can be removed and underneath it are two initials and a name written in the roman alphabet, it says “Made by V. J. & . Nathdwara”. Who or what V. J. is, is unknown, Nathdwara is an Indian surname and the name of an old town in Rajasthan about 100 km south of Jodhpur.

27th March 2006, 04:11 PM	#1
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Hi Tim, It is most likely 19th century, but I think you are wrong when you say Deccan, Hyderabad. I think it is more likely Rajasthan/Mewar, due to the colours the different districts were specializing in, mentioned in Jacob and Hendley’s book ‘Jeypore Enamels’, and due to the fact that the finest centres for enamel lay to the north. There are a few interesting things about this hilt. Mostly when you see a tulwar hilt it has the same decoration all over, but not this one, as the hilt, the top of the disc and the dome have the same decorations and colours, but under the disc the decoration and the colours are quite different, here it is clearly a water plant, single petal lotus’s most likely, with butterflies. I have often wondered when I saw a different decoration on the underside of the disc. Why was it made differently, so only the owner could see it, and then only when he turned the tulwar upside down? It must have been more expensive due to the bigger number of colours, as it would have to go more time into the oven for the melting process, so it must have had a special meaning to the owner. You now and again see the same change in decoration on hilts decorated in koft gari. Hi Brian, Another thing, which makes me say north India, is the transparency and the way the colours are fating, this was very difficult to make, and I think it was only made in the north. For a long time the enamellers could not make the past themselves, so they got it from Lucknow – but it was the furnace job which made the difference. Attached Images

28th March 2006, 02:22 PM	#4
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Hi Brian, I don’t only have it from Hendley and Egerton. I have the book ‘Indian Art at Delhi 1903’ by George Watt which is the official catalogue and guide to the exhibition held at Delhi. As any kind of art from all over India was represented at the exhibition, this should give us an idea of how frequent the different types of art were represented in the different regions. That a region was not represented with enamel work at the exhibition does not mean that enamel work could not have been made there, I would however think that if nice enamel work had been made in a region it would have been sent it to the exhibition. Here are the names he mentions in the index. ‘Bernares, Bhawalpur, Bhuj, Bombay (school of art), Chamba, Delhi, Hazara, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Kach, Kangra, Kashmir, Lahore, Lucknow and Multan.’ I won’t say that enamel was not made in south India, as I don’t know, but it seems as if, at least most of it was made in Punjab and Rajasthan, and I agree with you that Hendley was very fond of the northern part of India, so it is likely that he would prefer to write about enamel and other works from this area. With Watt it was somewhat different, as he was the author of the official catalogue for the 1903 exhibition, he had to deal with everything sent to the exhibition. It would however be interesting, as you suggest, to dig into enamels from the south, to see what is to be found – V&A would be a good place to start. There is one more thing I should mention about the hilt, and that is that the dome can be removed and underneath it are two initials and a name written in the roman alphabet, it says “Made by V. J. & . Nathdwara”. Who or what V. J. is, is unknown, Nathdwara is an Indian surname and the name of an old town in Rajasthan about 100 km south of Jodhpur. Attached Images

27th March 2006, 04:23 PM	#2
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,844	Beautiful work. I do not know anything about the colours or enameling centers. I was just guessing on the form of the decoration which is very different from the Northern/Kashmir enameled kard you post for discussion some time ago. Wonderful condition on the handle anyway.

27th March 2006, 04:27 PM	#3
B.I Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 485	hi jens am happy to defer to your theories, especially the date on seeing the pommel underside. i know the sword of course, but have a bad memory :-) hendleys book is great (all of them, but the jeypore enamels that you refer to especially) but like egerton, he must be taken cautiosly. both he and egerton spent much time in india, studying a subject they were both obviously very passionate about, but neither spent much time in the south. also, both studied mainly the arts of the time, of course delving into the past where applicable. the south was never studied properly and only recently have many theories of the past been brough to task. still, in saying that i am still happy to defer to your opinion, but would like to know where the rajesthan colours information came from (was this hendley?)