A beautifully decorated Burmese bronze elephant bell

Northern India or Deccan, late 19th century L. approx. 82 cm (excl. stand) Provenance: Private collection, United Kingdom This remarkable gilt-silver soonta (ceremonial sceptre) also known as choba (ceremonial mace) with a tiger's head stands out as an unparalleled example. It has a wooden base, clad with thick sheet part-gilt silver and has fine details such as teeth and a curling tongue. Especially with the inlaid glass eyes, in combination with the grand sculptural design, it would have been integral to an Indian maharaja’s attire, known as lawajama in North India and biruthus in South India, as referenced by Jackson & Jaffer. They would symbolise authority, power, and sometimes an attribute of various deities, particularly those associated with strength or combat. For instance, the Hindu god Hanuman, known for his immense strength, is often depicted holding a mace (*chob* or gada in Sanskrit). Similarly, the god Vishnu and his avatar Krishna are also frequently depicted with a mace among their other attributes. Courtiers would raise these sceptres wrapped in rich brocades, with the head visible, during processions, signalling their association with the monarch. Alongside fly-whisks and standards, they were indispensable in ceremonial parades, underscoring the ruler's prestige. Terlinden notes that a soonta berdar was tasked with carrying the sceptre. These individuals, proficient in courtly manners, played key roles during audiences, from managing entrances to introducing guests. Their esteemed position often earned them generous rewards, including land grants. See for a depiction of sceptres in use the top right of a painting in the collection of the V&A, titled Processional scene with Amar Singh, ruler of Thanjavur (Tanjore), and Sarabhoji, from circa 1797. For a very comparable piece, but with an elephant’s head, see the collection of the Indian Museum, Kolkata. For other less similar examples, see the V&A Museum London. Sources: A. Jackson & A. Jaffer, Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, London, V&A Publishing, 1999 Christiane Terlinden Serra, Mughal Silver...

A splendid and rare Amazon indigenous wamara wood Macana war-club Southern-Guyana or Northern Brazil, Wapitxana group of the Aruak peoples, 18th century, possibly earlier Measure: H. 43 cm The deep patina of the club present, and the residue on the part where it was held, attest to its great age. This unusually large Macana is decorated with several incised whitened anthropomorphic and human figures, a decoration only found on one other documented club in the British Museum, which is illustrated in: Hjalmar Stolpe, Amazon Indian...

Burmese bronze elephant bell with stand. Age: Burma, 19th Century Size: Height 12.5 C.M. / Width 9 C.M. Size including stand: Height 23.5 C.M. Condition: Nice condition overall...

India, circa 1880 A nineteenth century solid bronze Indian elephant mounted by a Mahout carrying one passenger in a traditional howdah carriage, incised with decoration throughout a...