Tea set

ARTIST / MAKER: Unknown
DATE: ca. 1880 (made)
PLACE: Kashmir
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES: Silver, flat-chased
COLLECTION NUMBER: 68

This Indian tea set from Srinagar, Kashmir, features a teapot, sugar bowl and a milk jug which have tilting kang-shaped bodies with cobra-shaped handles. Each piece is decorated with an arabesque-inspired pattern that is similar to the ‘boteh’, or paisley, design traditionally found on Kashmir- produced shawls. During the late 19th century, when India was the pride of the British Empire, silver decorated with this pattern was very fashionable, and silversmithing firms such as Elkington and Co., based in Birmingham, produced several Kashmiri-style objects. Tilting tea sets were also sometimes made in Lucknow in India and exported to Britain.