A big lidded jug from Northern India, probably for the pouring of tea. The round bulging body of the jug is made of brass. It has been chased in three parts, riveted, sealed off and patinated to a dark brown colour. The jug’s neck, lid, spout, handle and the stand, conically tapering upwards, have been cast from bronze and decoratively engraved. The part of the spout bears the head of a mythical lion (‘singha’) with a mouth wide open. The handle, likewise, sports the head of a mythical lion (‘singha’) and ends in curvature with the neck and head of a peacock. The neck, lip and stand are decorated with lines, rhomboids, and jagged bands. Soldiered onto the round vessel’s ‘shoulder’ as embellishment are 14 English colonial coins made of copper. These are British-Indian ‘8 Anna coins’ from the time of King George V (1910-1936). The King of England, having also been crowned ‘King of India’, is shown in profile wearing his Indian crown. This unusually big lidded jug shows very good traces of usage and old patina. A small, light crack in the vessel’s bulging ‘belly’ in the vicinity of the stand. Otherwise no damage. Height: 50 cm; Width: 48 cm (from the spout to end of the handle); Diameter: c. 30 cm (‘belly’). Given that all the 14 ‘8 Anna coins’ with King George V’s portrait show heavy traces of usage and have ostensibly been long in use, the object’s age can be determined as: around 1920. (ME)