Table Clock Case

Late 19th – early 20th century Origin: Kashmir Material: Copper with tin plating Design: Shawl-tarah This engraved copper table clock case represents a rare cultural hybridity of traditional Kashmiri metalwork and imported mechanical technology. While the clock movement itself is now lost, the finely crafted case survives as an exceptional example of local craftsmanship adapting to new objects introduced during the late nineteenth century. The façade is conceived as a miniature architectural elevation. Its scalloped outline echoes the cusped arches that define much of Kashmir's historic architectural vocabulary, while the circular aperture originally housed the clock dial. Surrounding it, dense shawl-tarah engraving fills every available surface with the ornamental language of Kashmiri shawls. Although incomplete, it stands as a rare record of the moment when the Kashmiri artisans embraced new technologies without abandoning their own visual language. Rather than imitating imported designs, they naturalised them, allowing even a mechanical clock to become unmistakably Kashmiri. Private collection: Trām and Beyond

Not for Sale