'Sarv' Jar in Wood and Metal

Provenance

The Sarv jar belongs to the North Indian mixed-media workshop tradition — a practice of combining turned and printed wood bodies with cast metal figures and stone elements to produce ornamental accent objects. The wood body is surface-printed on an antique gold ground and sealed under lacquer; the cast metal figure is fitted to the lid. The tradition comes from workshops in Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh, where the skills of the print workshop, the metal caster, and the stone setter combine in single objects.

The surface ornament on Sarv is organised around the cypress tree — the sarv of Persian garden poetry, the tall, straight, evergreen form that stands at the centre of the Mughal chahar bagh and the Persian garden composition. The cypress appears across Mughal carpet design, miniature painting, architectural decoration, and embroidery: always the same form — a vertical axis of dark green, the still point in the garden's flourishing. On this wooden decorative jar, the cypress is surrounded by a flowering ornamental ground in the antique gold palette associated with Mughal court objects — illuminated manuscripts, lacquered book covers, embroidered textiles.

The waterproof surface suits display use. Not airtight. Each piece is individually handcrafted; print placement and the finish of the cast figure may vary slightly between pieces.

Disclaimer

• These jars combine hand-printed wood, cast metal, and stone elements. Variations in print tone and metal finish are natural features of the process.
• Minor surface imperfections are characteristic of handcrafted work and are not defects.