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Antique Anglo-Indian Boxes
Collectible Culture from the British Raj'
Monghyr The output from the craftsmen of Monghyr is very little known in the west and yet highly recogniseable and worthy of recognition. It is mentioned in Birdsworth… “The cabinet work of Monghyr in Bengal is well known. The principal woods used there are tal or palm [Borassus flabelliformis] and ebony, and European articles of furniture are made of them which are highly prized in Calcutta”. The town of Monghyr is conveniently situated on the bend of the Ganges river and was a stopping point for foreigners, particularly British civil servants, traveling on the river boats between Calcutta and Delhi. However a railroad was opened in 1855 which bypassed the town and severely reduced the trade for the Monghyr craftsmen who were obliged to find other forms of work. Therefore we can fairly confidently date the following pieces to the first half of the 19th century before the railroad robbed the craftsmen of their market. It is recorded that these craftsmen were better inlayers than carvers. The reason is that this town has a long history of producing firearms (especially rifles) of high quality. The wooden parts required little carving but elaborate inlay work for decoration was highly developed. This decoration skill was put to good use producing boxes, walking sticks, and other small items for the passing trade. The repertoire of graphic elements is very limited and characteristic consisting of leafy scrollwork with the occasional bird or butterfly included. The contrast between these simple but effective designs on a dark wood background is striking and instantly recogniseable as originating in Monghyr. The typical wood used is Abnoos (Indian ebony).— As with the generic term ‘rosewood’ the term ‘ebony’ covers several species of tree. In this case. we are considering Diospyros melanoxylon which is a large tree, producing a sweet fruit like grapes. Its leaves resemble those of the Sinobir, but are somewhat broader: it is an evergreen, and its wood is, when good and full-grown, dark-colored and durable; its leaves are smooth and glassy. It is also known as coromandel and its heartwood is always dark but may show different colorations and striations according to where it grows. In southern India and Ceylon it yields the totally black wood commonly associated with ebony but in the north (Monghyr is north of Calcutta) climatic conditions and soil type cause the wood to be more of a chocolatey color with occasional streaks. It can be confused with Indian rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo) but has less red in it.
