Oomersi Mawji and Sons silver punch bowl, Cutch, Circa 1890-1910: The Friday Find

24 April - 1 May 2026
Oomersi Mawji and Sons silver punch bowl, Cutch, Circa 1890-1910, The Friday Find

This week we have an impressive, late 19th century punch bowl by one of the most revered Indian silversmiths, Oomersi Mawji. The great reference text on Indian silver is written by Wynyard Wilkinson, and much of the following information comes from his 1999 publication ‘Indian Silver 1958-1947.’

 

- Charles Moore

  • 'The silverwork of Cutch was by far the most admired and sought after of all Indian silverwork of the last...
    Percy Brown and Sir George Watt, Indian Art at Delhi, 1903. Being the Official Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition, 1902-1903, Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing India, 1903

    "The silverwork of Cutch was by far the most admired and sought after of all Indian silverwork of the last half of the nineteenth century, both abroad and in India. The distinctive infinite scrolling foliage, often containing animals, hunting scenes or birds, was so successful as a design that by the last quarter of the nineteenth century it was copied not only in other centres in India but also in Europe and the United States of America."

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  • The designs were produced through a laborious process whereby the vessel or flat item was filled with molten wax and resin (kil) which when it hardened helped absorb the shock of the silversmith’s hammers and punches.  Using a series of blunt edged tools the designs were painstakingly hammered into the surface of the object after which the wax was removed by heating.  This was often repeated numerous times to achieve the desired effect.

     

    The silver used in most Kutch silverwares was usually of a very high purity, often between 95-98% (higher than sterling standard of the time – 92.5%). The high purity also meant that the material was soft, making it easier to work in very fine detail.

  • Albert Palace, Battersea, London, 1885 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Craftsmen at 'The Indian Village' at the Albert Palace, Battersea, 1885 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    The Liberty & Co. stand within the ‘Indian Serai’ at the Paris Universal Exposition, 1889 Journal of Indian Art, October 1889, courtesy India Office Library (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    The Proctor & Co. stand within the ‘Indian Serai’ at the Paris Universal Exposition, 1889 Journal of Indian Art, October 1889, courtesy India Office Library (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Three piece tea-set by O.M. Bhuj, circa 1880 Harish K. Patel Collection, at The Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Proctor and Co. advertisement (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Unmarked Cutch tray, circa 1890 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Albert Palace, Battersea, London, 1885

  • The Raōs of Cutch also went to huge efforts to support the silversmith’s trade, and to ensure that Cutch silver was represented at every possible international exhibition, beginning with the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace in London. Such was its popularity it was retailed at the London stores of Liberty & Co. and Proctor and Co. In 1885, Liberty brought 45 artisans to London, creating an ‘Indian Village’ at Albert Palace in Battersea in South London. Their catalogues were stocked with woodwork and metalware, alongside Japanese imports.

  • The most renowned of the sixty or so silversmith families in Cutch at the end of the 19th century was...

    O.M. silver design drawing, a punch bowl with two elephants at the base Harish K. Patel Collection, at The Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama

    The most renowned of the sixty or so silversmith families in Cutch at the end of the 19th century was Oomersi Mawji, court silversmith to the Raōs of Cutch, whose inventive designs inspired many of his contemporaries and who can be said to have almost single-handedly stoked the desire for Cutch silverware both within and outside of India, believed by Wilkinson to be;

     

    “probably the greatest of any individual silversmith anywhere in the world, working in the second half of the nineteenth century.”

     

    Mawji, the son of a cobbler, was born in Gujarat and started his career specialising in leather engravings.  By the 1860s he was court silversmith to the Maharaōs of Cutch and the Maharajas of Baroda, and with his sons, was soon selling pieces overseas via branches of the business in Calcutta and Bombay.

     

    As well as the characteristic elements of Cutch silverwork, OM brought lifelike depictions of animals, and humour to his designs. Folios of his designs in the British Museum give an idea of the breadth of his studio’s inventiveness.

  • This punch bowl comes from a private British collection and is punched with the ‘intaglio’ marks of Oomersi Mawji and Sons, dating it to around 1890 – 1910.  The main body of the vessel is decorated with floral sprays and nesting birds, with two large elephant head handles on either side. On one side is a blank cartouche, which on occasion has inscriptions or dedications. It measures 32.5 across the handles, and weighs 1408g.

  • Oomersi Mawji and Sons, A fine Indian Silver Punch Bowl, Bhuj, Cutch, Circa 1890-1910

    Oomersi Mawji and Sons

    A fine Indian Silver Punch Bowl, Bhuj, Cutch, Circa 1890-1910
    Circular, on a foliate calyx with a circular pedestal, finely chased with foliage, flowers and birds, the two handles modelled as elephant heads, one side with a blank cartouche, marked to the base 'O.M.' and 'BHUJ'
    20.5cm (8 in) high, 32.5cm (12 3/4 in) wide over the handles
    1408g (45.25 oz)
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