An Indian rosewood sheet-silvered part-gilt footstool for a throne
H. 24 x L. 48 x W. 37 cm
On four lion-claw feet, foliate-motif carved, with on each side a medallion with an animal figure, silver-sheeted and upholstered in red velvet. A similar footstool, in the collection of the V & A (IM 289-1927), has an engraving at the underside in Gujarati which translates as: “Misty Raghunath Tribhuvan’s children Chhaganlal and Vrajlal made this. Residents in Visnagar, North Gujarat, Baroda”. Raghunath Tribhuvan was a specialist craftsman who produced silver and brass- covered furniture, made by gently hammering thin sheets of the metal over a carved wooden frame. Tribhuvan’s own manufactures do not appear to be signed, but footstools made by his sons Chhanganlal and Vrajlal are commonly signed in English or Gujarati (Furniture From British India And Ceylon, Amin Jaffer, pg. 312).
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