Brass container (lota) to store ghee
Object
Container
Production date
1940-1950
Object number
2024.117
Physical Description
Circular with a narrow round case and wide centre, tapering to the top opening. Has two circular lines engraved around the opening, 2 more around the neck and two pairs, of four lines, just below the neck, but above the wide centre. The is discoloured and black, presumably from when the pot has been put on a hob flame to melt the ghee within to use for cooking, in particular when applying to chapattis.
Object history
This brass pot (lota) was used to store ghee in the Pandit and Jamdagni family homes. The pot was placed on the hob many times to melt the ghee inside, so it could be used to spread on chapattis and used in other recipes. The repeated heating of the pot has left a scorched black marking on the base of the pot.
Personal experiences
I recall helping my mother serve lunch to my dad on weekdays when my twin brother and I would also come home for lunch from De Beauvoir Infant and Junior School, which was at the Dalston end of our road (Balls Pond Road). I would take the fresh warm rotis (chapatis) from my mother’s hands, one by one as she produced them, the melted butter from this pot on top gleaming, aiming to achieve the passage from kitchen to dining table in time to land on my father’s plate next to his vegetable curry, just before he’d finished the previous one.
Associated Person
Dimension
Height: 100mm
Width: 170mm
Width: 170mm
On display?
No
