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Antique Anglo-Indian Boxes
Collectible Culture from the British Raj'
MYSORE (and the coastal region of Canara on the Malabar coast of western India). According to the Brihat Sanhita, a celebrated work on astronomy by Varaha Mihira dating to the sixth century A.D., one of the woods most esteemed by the Hindus of India is chandan [Santalum album, sandalwood]. Of these, sandalwood reigns supreme and was used generously in Hindu temples. In the western antiques trade, many boxes are grouped together under the general description of ‘Anglo Indian’. The term betrays a lack of specialist knowledge and therefore a shallow appreciation of the diversity of styles and skills exhibited in the sub continent during the British colonial period. It is difficult to pick out a single exemplar to represent an entire genre but we choose this one because we know so much about the material from which it is made and the craftsman who made it.
