| Description
The howdah is in the form
of a small open carriage divided into two seating compartments.
The larger, forward-facing compartment is designed for two passengers
and has a low hinged door in each side and a restraining bar above,
which pivots at the front and hooks into position in the armrests.
Both the upper part of the front of the howdah and the backrest
of the seat are surmounted by neogothic scrollwork and pinnacles.
Both the main seat and the smaller, backward-facing seat are upholstered
in modern red velvet with gold thread trim.
The exterior of the howdah is of slightly
convex profile and is decorated
on the front, back, and sides with six gilded pseudo-heraldic designs;
the two doors are also chased with motifs of a horse and a winged
woman issuing from the mouths of large fish. Each of these decorative
panels is surrounded by a border of scrolling vines, ropework, and
stylized foliage. The base of the howdah has a shaped border with
chased flowers on a herringbone
ground and is surmounted at the front corners with couchant
lions and at the back with sea horses.
Construction
The body is composed of thin sheets of embossed
silver pinned with numerous nails to the wood carcass. Some of the
thin strips of silver around the borders are stamped rather than
embossed. The pinnacles are cast. The entire howdah is mounted on
two iron bars that run the length of the body and have iron rings
attached to each end, to which the harness would be attached.
Commentary
The word howdah is an Anglo-Indian term for the seat used for riding
an elephant. Symbols of status in the princely courts, they were
ridden in hunts, battles, and ceremonial processions.
The profuse detailing of this howdah recalls
the opulence manifested in the princely courts after Queen Victoria
was proclaimed empress of India in 1877. The Indian rajas, formerly
heads of independent Indian states, became vassals of the British
empire. Prevented from exercising any real power, they could only
demonstrate their strength through lavish displays of pomp and ceremony.
Their impressive appearance at official British governmental functions
ironically lent greater authority to the British control of India.
The ornamentation of this howdah provides
evidence of the great influence exerted by European taste upon decorative
objects made for the Indian courts in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. The work was probably carried out by Indian
artisans who proved quite adept at copying and altering Victorian
designs. Some of the decorative motifs are clearly hybrid forms.
For instance, the motif of the fish spewing either a horse or a
winged female combines elements found independently in Indian and
European art. The floral and border decorations are also alterations
and recombinations of motifs from these different traditions.
The motifs embossed on the front, sides,
and back of the howdah are not genuine coats of arms but pseudo-heraldic
decorations inspired by the English (sides and back) and Scottish
(front) royal arms. While these have been deliberately altered -
most noticeably in the substitution of a rayed pattern for the central
shield - certain details, such as the scrolling foliage beneath
the shields and supporters, suggest that the chaser was working
from an engraved source, such as that reproduced in contemporary
editions of Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. The appropriation of
these emblems as major decorative elements and the appearance of
two Indian attendants dressed in European military costumes on the
front suggest a conscious effort to display regal authority in European
terms. Janice Leoshko
Glossaries
howdah
- the seat used for riding an elephant
convex - curving outwards
chase - to decorate a metal surface using a hammer and
sharp tool
couchant - lying down with the head raised
emboss - mould or carve in relief, decorate with
a raised design
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the
Gilbert silver