Indian Chalice-Form Hinged & Lidded Box with Peacocks

Tall spikes with scrolled ends crown a ribbed pot like a ring of candles.

This chalice-form hinged and lidded box with peacocks is from Bengal, Odisha, India, and dates to the 19th century. It is brass. The peacock is the national bird of India and appears often in Indian art, where it is associated with several deities and with beauty. A rounded vessel with closely ribbed lid and body, set on a tall pedestal with a pierced disk foot. Several thin spikes with curled tops rise from the lid around a central bird. Small ring handles sit at the sides. It is 6 inches high and 3 in diameter.

Plenty of upright ornament, none of it shy.