Featured Nagina carving, a lost art

Best leave it alone then, because you would have to get the pattern on that rim right. It is just a small nibble, nothing obtrusive.

They would, but even brass topped would look nice against the dark wood.

 

Hi, fantastic to see another Asian antique collector on here I had that ink stand in my ebay watch list lol both are fantastic examples, personally I never bother to restore Nagina (it's almost impossible anyway without ruining the value) I would love to see more of your collection, I have done a few posts on the stuff I own, many of then from India.

 

Oops sorry. If it’s any consolation, I did have to haggle quite hard . Thanks for the advice. I agree with you and in actual fact, because of the precision carving and the age, I guess some minor wear and tear is to be expected and actually adds to the charm.

I have an interesting pencil box with a tambour lid. I think it’s a Nagina box but quite unusual. Have you come across one like this before?

 

That’s a point. Thanks. I’d never have thought of that.

 

I saw a few of your posts which I really like so thanks and it was actually this that made me join the forum in the first place.

 

No doubt Nagina, and I've never seen Nagina box with a tambour before doe's it look original to the box? Normally a tambour is backed with material that's quite easy to tell if it's recent or old. I have seen them on late Hoshiarpur boxes but the design on your box I have on a Nagina table (1880) so I date yours around the same time. Not all Nagina boxes ect are the same, sometimes they have crude carving (for Nagina) and sometimes they are even ebonised.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. The tambour doesn’t actually have a backing; it’s sticks of wood tightly threaded together and it runs along a groove which curves into a space under the pencil section so I think it probably is original. It could also be ebonised rather than ebony which would explain how the tambour could be made in this way as the wood might be softer and more flexible than ebony.

 

From the pattern it's almost certainly ebony and if you think the tambour is original then it will also be ebony, ebony can have a plastic look about it when highly finished. Do you collect all Indian antiques or just Nagina?

 

Thanks. That’s great to know. One of the great things about this forum is the willingness of people to share their knowledge and the opportunity to learn from others. This was my first Nagina piece which I bought because the pattern was so striking but I didn’t know what it was at the time and clearly neither did the seller judging by the price. I collect finely carved Antique Indian wood items and I particularly look for the unusual and overlooked pieces. Here are a few examples:



But there is something very special about Nagina carvings which I find very striking and appealing.

 

Nagina carving is the generic term for items carved in a very distinctive way, please don't take this the wrong way but all of the items above aren't Nagina, where they were carved might well have been in that rejoin but none can be described as Nagina. The real golden age of carving in India was pre-1900 but there were still some fantastic carvers up to the 1930's. The time these items took to produce and the skill involved needed a wealthy person to buy them, that's why in a country the size of India you can still identify (sometimes) the craftsman who produced them because at that time there were not that many craftsmen producing them, later on when tourism increased the standard dropped and production increased. These days Anglo Indian the term given to the golden age when very wealthy tourists could afford to give 3 months wages for one item are very sort after and the days of finding them on ebay going for a song are gone (most of the time) they are now to well recognised. Do you live in the UK? the reason for asking is these items can still be found at car boots and not snapped up but ebay is a wash with dealers who know the coup.

 

No offence taken. I didn’t intend to infer that all the items were Nagina but I’m finding the posting of images to be challenging so some of the photos don’t appear with the intended text. I thought that the inkstand, spice box and the tambour pencil case could be Nagina because of the ebony look and geometric style with flowers. The rest I could’t tell you where they are from but I thought they could be Indian; Chai tea tray, possibly a tea caddy and an anglo Indian Royal Army Medical Corp cigar box. I agree these look early to mid 20th century but still nice. I like any finely carved Indian items but having discovered Nagina, they surpass all others. Do collect you only collect Nagina or do you also collect other Asian antiques?

 

I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding, the inkstand, spice box and the tambour pencil case are all definitely Nagina, the next set of photos aren't and I agree that they are mid 20thc. I collect all manor of antiques, anything that's almost impossible to fake and has fantastic craftsmanship, I find Indian antiques affordable (just) and full of the above. I have quite a number of Indian antiques if you search my threads you will see the few that I've posted, happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

BTW all the other items you posted are all from India and IMHO the tray is a good example of late carving but doesn't just have the intricacy of earlier carvings

 

No apologies necessary. I don’t think my reply was very clear. I don’t normally contribute to forums so this is all very new to me. I agree that with Indian antiques the craftsmanship is superb on the earlier pieces and they are reasonably affordable but collecting these items is becoming more popular which seems to be driving up the price. The key appears to be a combination of dogged determination in tracking them down and then patience. The longer an item has been on eBay or with a vendor, the better chance you will have in striking a bargain with the seller. Thanks for all the useful advice and help. I’ll definitely take a look at your other posts.

 

Yes you’re probably right but the tray was dirt cheap and I liked the peacock carving so I took a punt!

 

It's always nice to find the perfect piece at a bargain price but sometimes I buy damaged pieces because it often puts other buyers off so the price is low and my enjoyment of the piece isn't ruined because the enjoyment I get is marvelling at the workmanship.

 

Very nice pieces. The carved bone and bone inlays are exquisite. Completely agree with you. It’s the workmanship or something unusual that I go for over and above condition so if there is some damage it’s not the end of the world and you actually can get beautiful pieces that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive.

 

I dug out the post where I knew there was a photo of the ink wells I have and you need for your Nagina ink stand. I wondered if they are a standard size, I would be happy to measure them to see if you need
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/my-most-recent-auction-mistake.18769/

 

That’s very kind of you. They look the right sort of shape so I’m hoping these types of Inkwells are of a standard size. The inkwell recesses on the inkstand are just a little over 2 inch square.

 

Just measured the square base of the ink wells at 54mm I hope it helps