Rare Silver Zodiac Bowl by Hamilton & Inches Edinburgh 1884

This is a fine silver bowl, repousséd and chased with 12 panels of zodiac figures, made in 1884 by Hamilton and Inches, Edinburgh. The silver and jewellery store was founded in 1866, it obtained a Royal Warrant in 1893, and was visited by Her Majesty in 2016 to mark its 150th anniversary. This type of bowl appeared in the British market at the same time with the formation of the British Empire in South Asia, lasting from 1858 to 1947. However, we can also trace this bowl back to the 1500 Iran and the starting of Safavid period. The zodiac bowl was also called divination bowl and it was used in medicine to try to determine the cause of illness. The way they did this was by looking at how light reflected on each side of the bowl and on which sign of the zodiac. The silver presents Hi, the Birmingham assay mark, and date letter “c” for 1884.