Hexagonal ewer, aftaba, of bidriware, zinc alloy decorated with inlaid silver. Piriform ewer with flat sides rising from a hexagonal stand, projecting hexagonal moulded collar at the base of the neck, which is also hexagonal. Curved handle from shoulder to the hinged domed lid. Curved spout with a collar close to the everted spout. Decorated with floral motifs in lozenge-shaped cartouches formed of leaf motifs arranged in half drop repeats all over the surface in tehnishan technique, inlaid with a smooth surface. The mouldings are partly decorated with chevrons.
See for comparison LAL, Krisha. Bidri Ware. New Delhi: National Museum, 1990, p. 82 (shape); pp. 84-85, 104, fig. 114; pp. 110, 117, fig. 139(decoration). Krishna Lal attributes most of bidri items to Hydarabad (but she probably means province).The centre of production was originally Bidar (close to Hydarabad city).
