Indian Brass Traveling Altar

A dark, burnished disc with a four-lobed flower at its heart.

This traveling altar from India is brass and dated in the record to the 19th century. Portable altars were commonly used to carry sacred images and offerings on pilgrimage and journeys. As photographed, it shows a broad, shallow round form with a deep, almost black patina and fine hammered texture over the surface. At the center, a raised boss is decorated with a four-petaled flower with a small spiral inside.

About thirteen inches across. Dark, round and satisfyingly weighty.