Indian Oil Spoon with Spear Top

Heavy little ladle bowl with a thick rim and a stout, ringed grip.

This brass oil spoon with a spear top is from Karnataka, South India, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. A spear-shaped finial is a decorative detail, and such pointed forms appear on many Indian metal objects as ornament or as symbols of protection. Deep, thick-walled bowl at the end of a short sturdy handle. The handle carries ridged rings and a leafy swelling near the bowl, ending in a pointed tip. The golden surface is dark in the recesses and rubbed at the high points. It is 1 inches wide, 0.5 deep and 6 high.

Built like a tiny bell with ambitions.