Cleveland Museum of Art
Bidri Basin
- Date
- c. 1650
- Medium
- Zinc alloy with silver and brass inlay
- Culture
- Southwestern India, Deccan, Karnataka, Bidar
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 387677
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
Wide-rimmed basins called sailabchi were used to catch water poured from a pitcher during hand washing before prayer and before and after meals. A sumptuous example such as this was made for an elite setting. Every element of the allover floral arabesque was cut from silver and brass sheets or wire and hammered into the cast zinc alloy vessel in a distinctive technique developed in southern India. Zinc alloy does not rust or corrode, in contrast to steel or copper alloys.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Provenance
- 1968-1999: Dr. Mark Zebrowski [1945-1999], London, UK, by descent to his partner John Robert Alderman | 1999-: (John Robert Alderman, London, UK, consigned to Francesca Galloway, Ltd. for sale) | 2020: (Francesca Galloway, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 2020-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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