their fame has now been lost, owing to the decreased demand for their wares under British rule. The district still, however, possesses good goldsmiths and silversmiths, whose work is marked by the strongest local character.
In the Bombay Presidency the plate of Katch and Gujarat has long been noted* Sir Seymour Fitzgerald has lent the India Museum a bowl and tray [Plate 7] of the old pierced parcel gilt work [the opus interra site of the Romans] of Ahmed- abad. The form of the bowl is European, hut derived, as Is proved by the ornamentation of the tray, though Persia ; while the Hindu influence is clearly shewn in the character which the foot of the bowl has taken in the hands of the Ahmedabad artist* It is a noble example of the grand style of goldsmiths 1 work executed in India in past times, for this bowl and tray are not less than 150 or 200 years old. The silver gilt vase, and silver gilt and jewelled coffee pot, illustrated in Plates 8 and 9, are known to be not less than 200 years old, having been nearly all that time in the possession of the family of the native gentleman of Gujarat from whom they were obtained. They are said to have been made by a Jama goldsmith. The coffee-pot is evidently derived from a Mongol [Turkoman] original, and the vase from a Greek, or possibly Sassanian ; and both illustrate the natural capacity for assimilating foreign forms possessed by the Hindus, when left to deal with them in their own way* It is their patient work- manship apparently which is the source of this happy power* Working in gold and silver is still carried on in every district of Gujarat, in all the big towns and large villages, and especially at Dholka, Viragram, and Ahmedabad. The beautiful silver and gold repousse work of Katch is of Dutch origin, but has been perfectly assimilated to the native style of the province, and is much sought after. The goldsmiths of Katch are also very skilful in decorating arms in silver, and parcel gilt, and gold : and colonies of them are established all over Gujarat and Kathiwar.
