This splendid presentation box is beautifully carved with an image of a South Indian temple flanked by elephants with inset mother of pearl eyes and must once have been a very grand gift indeed. We have a theory that the 'coins' making up the finials of the spoons are replicas of local coins, possibly silver 'taras', the smallest silver coins from the ancient kingdom of Vijayanagara where the temple looks exactly like the one depicted. That may be fanciful, they may be copies of coins from Travancore or another of the princely state that survived until much more recently, temples like and there are other South Indian temples with tall towers, gopurams, like this one are easy enough to find. Either way, this is a highly unusual present, a real curiosity and yet with a perfectly good practical purpose.
£195
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