A Tarkashi Box (SOLD)
Mainpuri, Northern India
Circa 1880
A Tarkashi betel nut box of rosewood inlaid with brass wire
height 18 cm diameter 32 cm (7 x 12.5 in)
The traditional craft of Tarkashi - drawing in wire - was practised by the Ojha caste whose ancestors had migrated from Rajasthan to Mainpuri in the 14th century but it was only in the 19th century that it reached its zenith with the interest of the Europeans who, fascinated by this complicated and intricate process, patronised the local craftsmen.