Lot 136
AN IMPRESSIVE AND COMPLETE 'RAJ SILVER' TEA SET DECORATED WITH JUNGLE SCENES
INDIA, LUCKNOW, CIRCA 1893
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
comprising six pieces including a large tray inscribed with: ‘Presented to Capt. J. H. E. Reid K.O.S.B, by his friends on leaving Naini Tan, October 1893’; a teapot, a coffee pot, a sugar bowl, a creamer, and a further pouring vessel, each profusely chased and decorated with jungle scenes including palm trees, sugar cane, grass, elephants, tigers and prey, with serpent handles, each of the lidded pots with elephant finials
Dimensions
Total weight 6.83kg
Provenance
Formerly in the collection of J. H. E. Reid, 19th century.
Lieutenant-Colonel James Henry Erskine Reid was a British military officer who left a lasting mark on the colonial history and archival record of Naini Tal, India. Born around 1856, Reid served with distinction in British India - most notably with the King's Own Scottish Borderers - eventually rising from Captain to the rank of Colonel. Beyond his military duties, he was a prominent figure in the vibrant social, sporting, and administrative life of Naini Tal during its era as the bustling summer capital of the United Provinces. An avid chronicler of his surroundings, Reid compiled an extensive collection of personal scrapbooks, photograph albums, and journals that captured everything from local yachting and polo matches to amateur dramatics and military expeditions. Today, his meticulously preserved papers form a core part of the Macnabb Collection within the British Library Archives, offering modern historians an invaluable, vivid window into late 19th century colonial life in the Himalayas.