A silver-overlaid alloy bidri talismanic bowl
Deccan, 18th Century
of deep rounded form with everted rim on a short foot, profusely decorated with silver-overlay, the exterior with poppy plants and bands of geometric motifs, the interior inscribed with concentric bands of Arabic inscriptions
14.1 cm. diam.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Sotheby's, Islamic and Indian Art, 29 April 1993, lot 386.

Inscriptions: to the outer two bands, The basmalah followed by the nada 'ali quatrain; to the inner band, invocations to God and the Five Innocents (i.e Muhammad, 'Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn'); to the well, invocations to God, Muhammad, 'Ali, Fatimah and Hasan.

Bidri is the name given to a metalwork technique unique to India, with items cast from an alloy containing zinc and then engraved and inlaid, commonly with silver or brass, the final stage being the blackening of the item's surface in order to make the inlay stand out (see S. Stronge, Bidri Ware: Inlaid Metalwork from India, London, 1985, p. 11). The present lot is decorated in the reverse bidri technique, known as aftabi, where the background is of silver overlay and the motifs are cut through to reveal the black base metal underneath. A similar bidri talismanic bowl is in the Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection, Geneva, illustrated in M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, p. 348, fig. 571. Zebrowski comments that the use of script on the interior of vessels is a rare technical feat not seen on Mughal or Safavid objects and associated specifically with the Deccan.
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