VINTAGE 20thC RARE INDIAN SOLID SILVER LARGE PRESENTATION ASOKA COLUMN c.1958

DESCRIPTION

Vintage 20th Century Indian Colonial Solid Silver monumental Asoka Column presentation scroll holder, raised on a square stepped base, beaded borders, the base applied with elephants, the pull-off top is topped with the lion-headed capital and the wheel (chakra).

Asoka reigned as Emperor of the Mauryan Empire c. 273-232 b.C. He turned to Buddhism and set out to embody the ideal ruler, leaving open minded inscriptions carved on specially placed pillars, thirteen of which surviving across India. They became a symbol of the newly formed State of India in 1947.

The base bears a memorial inscription "KATIE WILCOX JULY 26, 1958". Katie Wilcox went to India as a missionary from Connecticut in 1915. She joined as a member of faculty at Capron Hall School in Madurai, of which she became the principal. Through years of hard work and found-raising she founded Orlinda Childs Pierce Memorial School for girls in 1937, the Noyes School. She later ideated a women's college and after much work she founded the Lady Doak College, the first women's college in Madurai (founded in 1948 and still an important institution).

The silver is unmarked, but is typically Indian colonial, acid tested shows a 850+ standard, probably made in Bombay, it dates before 1958.

CONDITION

In Excellent Condition - No Damage.

SIZE

Height:   50.5cm

Width:   16.7cm

Weight:   1150g