Antique Brass Urli on Tortoise Base

Name: Antique Brass Urli on Tortoise Base
Brand: PEETAL PARAMPARA
SKU: PP-BR-DEC-URL-120
Price: 3499.0 INR
Availability: InStock

A brass urli on a cast tortoise base, with loose bells hanging right round the rim.

Rs. 3,499.00

Price includes GST.

Weight: 1,850g

Material: Brass, unlacquered
Finish: Antique, with darkened recesses
Rim: Small cast bells hung on loose rings the whole way round
Base: Cast tortoise, four feet flat on the table, bowl carried on a short turned stem
In the box: 1 brass urli on a cast tortoise base

Check delivery to your PIN code

Estimated, not a guarantee. Dispatched from Guwahati, Monday to Saturday.

Each piece is shaped and finished by hand, so small differences in weight, size, finish and surface marking are normal and no two are identical. Colour on screen can differ from the metal in daylight. Handmade in India.

The bowl does not sit on a ring foot. A cast tortoise takes it, legs splayed and head out, with the shell worked in scroll and leaf and the dark sitting down in the cut lines, and a short turned stem lifts the bowl clear of the shell. Small bells hang from loose rings the whole way round the rim, close enough that they touch, so the bowl answers when the table is knocked.

Technique

Antique

What is it?

An urli is the wide shallow open bowl set out with water, flower heads and floating diyas, low enough that the surface of the water is what a person sees first.

Also known as an uruli, urli bowl, floating flower bowl, varpu or peetal urli.

What is in the box?

1 brass urli on a cast tortoise base

How do I look after it?

Wash by hand with a mild dishwashing liquid and a soft sponge. Dry fully with a cloth before putting it away — water left standing is what causes spotting.
Brass darkens. It reacts with air and with the oils on your hands, and a piece in daily use will dull within weeks. That is the metal telling you it is not plated.
To bring the shine back on the raised surfaces: a soft dry cloth, and nothing more. The dark in the recesses is the finish, not dirt — lemon, salt and tamarind will strip it out and the pattern will flatten.
Do not use steel wool, scouring pads or bleach.
Not dishwasher safe. Not microwave safe.
If you would rather it stayed dark, leave it alone — a settled patina protects the surface.

How was it made?

Antique

Handmade in India

Every piece finished by hand

Solid metal

No plating, nothing to chip

Weighed and listed

In grams, on almost every page

Tin lining stated

Where a vessel is lined, we say so

Questions about this piece

Is this brass solid or plated?

Solid. The bowl, the stem and the tortoise together weigh 1,850 g, and a plated shell of the same span would come in far under that. Put it on a kitchen scale the day it arrives.

Will it look exactly like the photograph?

Close, not identical. The bells are cast and hung by hand, so their spacing shifts a little, and the dark in the cut lines of the shell sits differently on every base.

How big is it really?

We have not measured it, so the page carries no width or height. That is deliberate. An estimate a couple of centimetres out is worse than an honest gap, particularly for a piece going onto a shelf that is already full. The weight above is measured. Ask and we will put a tape to this one.

Will it tarnish?

Yes. Unlacquered brass darkens in air, and an antique finish is already a darkened surface, so the change reads as a deepening rather than a stain. A dry cloth on the raised parts is enough.

Can I fill it with water?

Yes, that is what the form is for. We have not measured what it holds, so there is no millilitre figure here. Float flower heads and a diya, then empty it and dry it so water does not stand against the brass.