One story idea

I'm toying with ideas on which to base my history and one of them is this:  I could trace the history of one of the Vizagapatam ivory-work cabinets:

1. An 18th century one which is presently at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The path the piece followed from owner to owner is well documented. It was apparently commissioned by a Muslim and can be traced back through six generations of the family.  The name of the ship (The United States) on which it was brought from India to America, when it arrived in Philadelphia (Sept. 13, 1785), and how it descended over time through the family of socialite Anne Willing Bingham (1764-1801), who counted both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among her acquaintances, are all there.

2. The second one is the ornate writing and dressing table that was auctioned away by Lily Safra. I had written about it in a previous blog.

Both stories sound quite good, but how much of the city's history do they cover and what's the scope of the sotries is, I'm not very sure.

Despair

I'm beginning to despair. I think I'm running in circles. Searches are leading nowhere concrete. The Vizagapatam Gazeteer does offer something to munch on, but I suspect what's in it is already known to the whole wide world.

Google is showing more articles up on auction. If I were to go by this search engine, there's not much to Vizag apart from ivory boxes for storing gloves, needles, my hot frying head...

But all the searching did give me a chance to change my opinion about the ivory work. It does look quite fastidious as in this glove box.

Ivory inlay work

One more discovery, or, rather, a confirmation of what I had read about in surprise some years ago: Vizagapatam's ivory inlaid handicrafts were in high demand in the mid-to-late 1700s. I found an article on this topic by one Amin Jaffer in the Feb 2001 issue of Magazine Antiques.

The impression I get of these crafts is that they were exquisite and in very high demand among the European population in Vizagapatam as well as royalty everywhere in India. Strange that we don't find a single piece in Vizag. (I must check out the museum once I get there.)

The pieces, however, did find their way all across Europe. Quite a few of them -- a porcupine quill sewing basket, dressing tables, caskets and chess sets -- are on auction. A very ornate writing and dressing table is apparently part of a collection that a once-chic German couple, Edmond and Lily Safra, has set up for sale. This one is estimated to go for around $50,000 to $70,000.

Here's a picture from the catalogue:

But from Amin's article I get the impression that the larger pieces of furniture were not quite the thing. Their proportions were a bit off sometimes and dressing table mirrors were not always the right size, as workmen made do with whatever glass was available. It was the smaller betel nut and other portable boxes that were more exquisite and also more in demand. They were mostly made of sandalwood and inlaid with ivory with lac providing the black background or outline.

Other impressions
The article also mentions that Vizag's chintzes were highly valued. Let me get you the quote: "Major John Coreille (b.c. 1727) wrote in the 1750s that Vizagapatam's 'chintz is esteemed the best in India for the brightness of its colours.'"

I also get the impression that Vizag was quite the cosmopolitan sea port, as it was the only natural harbour between Calcutta and Madras. Vessels from Canton in China stopped by and Amin says it's not impossible that Chinese workers lent Indian workers a hand, as the furniture designs do reflect a Chinese influence. However, all local craft was moulded to the European taste, as the English settlers were the main buyers.