[olikara]

The Pata does display typical Tanjore characteristics and so there is no doubt that the inspiration for the piece is from Tanjore.

But then, what do we mean when we call a piece 'Tanjore'? If we mean that it was always manufactured in the geographical region of Tanjore in South India we could be wrong. The Tanjore form of chiselled and pierced armour work was also cultivated in other centers near and around Tanjore too like Madurai (also Maratha Nayak rulers), Ginjee, Vellore, Mysore, etc.

I would put the place of origin for this particular piece as Mysore because of the prominence given to the Ganda Bherunda on the Langet. The Ganda Bherunda is a Kannada(language spoken in Mysore) word and was the emblem of the Wodeyar rulers of Mysore.

Nidhi

P.S. Radleigh, a piece par excellence! Congratulations.