The body, spout and lid finely decorated with tightly scrolling foliage within plain arches, the handle in the form of a cobra

Stamped J. MANIKRAI / T95/ KARACHI to underside

Height: 5 ½ in.; Length: 10 in.; Width: 5 in. Weight: 24 oz., 752g 

The port city of Karachi was developed by the British in India as a strategic harbour near to the  North-West frontier of Afghanistan. J. Manakrai was one of the Cutch silversmiths who emigrated to Karachi following the great famine in Cutch in 1899, and his work bears close similarity with the tight scrollwork of  the famed Cutch silversmiths, but in deep relief and often with the inclusion of plain arches. J. Manikrai won a silver medal at the Indian Industrial Exhibiton in Lahore in 1909. A small number of identical teapots by Manikrai are known, though we have been unable to trace one with the serpent handle as in the present example.

Literature: Wilkinson, Wynyard R. “Indian Silver 1858-1947”, 1999, pp. 70, 90-91 (same model illustrated, with different handle).

Condition: Very good consistent with age, one or two minor dents to the handle, handle loose.