Indian Wood Bottle Stopper

A little pagoda that stopped halfway through dressing and kept the cube.

This carved wood bottle stopper is from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, and dates to the 19th century. A stopper is a small, functional object, and in many workshops such pieces were a way to use offcuts and apply skill on a modest scale. A pointed cap sits above a fluted, bell-like section, then a boxy block cut with crossed lines and a faint red tint. A rough peg tapers below. The surface is dark, worn and dusty, with small losses along the edges. It is 1 inches wide, 1 deep and 5.5 high.

Ornate on top, practical at the bottom, like most of us.