When Anant Zaveri travelled to Udaipur in the 1970s, he had no idea it would change the course of his life. An unexpected encounter with a court jeweller of Mewar led to the purchase of a few exquisitely worked silver pieces. Their weight, workmanship, and history turned into a four-decade pursuit of India’s most exceptional hand-wrought silver.
Today, that pursuit lives on in the Alpana Haveli Museum—housed within the 83-year-old Zaveri’s ancestral mansion in Ahmedabad. Open by appointment to students, scholars, and craft enthusiasts, the private museum is an archive of silverware, textiles, furniture, and personal memorabilia. “Collecting runs in the family,” Zaveri says. “My grandfather and father collected medieval sculptures. As a teenager, I collected stamps and postal history, then coins. By the 1970s and ’80s, silver took over.” At the time, Zaveri was immersed in the family’s engineering and metallurgical business, which meant constant travel to mining towns and industrial hubs across India. Wherever work took him, he searched for silver—meeting silversmiths, jewellers, antique dealers, and collectors. Zaveri’s collection reflects the vast geography of Indian silver: Jaipur’s meenakari, Cuttack’s filigree, Lucknow’s engraved and enamelled forms, Telangana’s delicate wirework—all sit alongside ornate hookahs from Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Rajasthan. “Awadh favoured jungle motifs,” he notes. “Under British rule, hunting scenes became fashionable. Paandaan boxes were prized symbols of refinement among royals, zamindars, and wealthy traders.”
Colonial influences brought new objects and new systems. Tea services, trays, goblets, decanters, and trophies entered the silversmith’s repertoire. The British also documented artisan names, creating a sense of provenance rarely seen in Mughal India. “Some of my finest pieces came from Parsi families in Mumbai,” Zaveri says.
Unexpectedly, London remains one of his most rewarding hunting grounds. Indian silver, taken back by colonial administrators as gifts or commissions, survives there in remarkable condition—structurally intact, enamel preserved, craftsmanship undisturbed by time. While earlier acquisitions came through travel, Zaveri now works with auction houses in Mumbai and trusted dealers. Each piece undergoes rigorous scrutiny for age, region, technique, and authenticity.
Built using architectural fragments and sculptures from ancestral havelis, the museum’s interiors are complemented by newly crafted elements made by Ahmedabad artisans. “We’ve hosted international collectors as well as local students,” Zaveri says. “Now, my focus is on cataloguing the collection properly and ensuring the museum remains a learning space. Silver carries memory. If it isn’t studied and shared, that memory fades.” In 2025, Zaveri documented a substantial part of his collection in his book, Silver Dunes of Kutch. Two more volumes are planned, examining Mughal and Colonial influences on Indian silver.