Of baluster form, on a circular foot, the handle in the form of a snake extending over the hinged cover to the spout. The neck, body and foot are decorated in an Arabesque Rosette pattern, with arches enclosing panels decorated with stylised chinar leaves and flowers alternating on a punched and dense leaf decorated ground, the shoulder and underside of the body decorated with rows of fish.

Height 12 ½ in.; Width 4 ½ in.; Weight 24.5 oz.

The fine decoration on this claret jug is similar to that made in Srinagar, Kashmir, inspired by Persian designs of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and includes motifs of local flora and fauna, including poppy flowers, and chinar leaves - a Kashmiri state symbol. The bold mahseer fish around the shoulder are a national symbol of Pakistan, and were an important symbol in the heraldry of several former princely states of India, including Kashmir and Jammu, Bhopal, and Oudh.  

A similarly decorated Kashmiri claret jug with a very similar snake handle extending over the spout is in the collection of the Minneapolis Museum of Art, accession number 97.40, illustrated in Wilkinson, p. 116.

Literature: Wilkinson (Wynyard R.T.) Indian Silver 1858-1947, 1999, pp. 103-124.