A woman in jewels and a gossamer sari churns butter for ghee.
c1890. Ink and gouache with gold heightening on fibrous, brown laid paper, with a Jaipur Court Fee tax stamp in purple ink on the recto, 13 1/4 x 8 7/8 inches (336 x 226 mm). Toning, handling creases and minor scattered surface soiling throughout. There are scattered coeval inscriptions in ink on the recto and verso.
A traditional Indian butter churn is operated by rapidly pulling a rope which turns a paddled spindle. The paddles churn cows milk inside a large jar until milk solids form. Ghee is made from cow milk butter, which is treated with low heat until the water evaporates, leaving behind milk solids. The solids are skimmed off or strained if needed. Ghee is a staple food on the Indian subcontinent, and as a cooking oil, it is the most widely used food in India, apart from wheat and rice. Because of its exalted status at Hindu weddings, ghee is expensive and in high demand. Male wedding guests are expected to compete with each other to see who can eat the most of it; consuming two pounds or more at a sitting is considered a proof of virility.
On the stamp:
The first revenue stamps in India were issued in the mid-nineteenth century during the Raj, and they are still being issued to this day. Apart from issues for the whole of India, many princely states, provinces, and other states also had (or still have) their own revenue stamp issues. Before independence, Indian revenue stamps were closely modeled on similar designs from Great Britain, as is the case with this carriage motif stamp from Jaipur. The stamps were issued to denote various denominations, including rupees and annas. An anna (or ānna) was a currency unit formerly used in British India, equal to 1⁄16 of a rupee. It was subdivided into four (old) Paisa or twelve pies (thus there were 192 pies in a rupee). When the rupee was decimalized and subdivided into 100 (new) paise, one anna was therefore equivalent to 6.25 paise. This particular stamp was used as evidence of court taxes remitted for property dealings.
Item number: 1341
Price: $650.00
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