I've recently inherited two old Indian brass items, bought in the 1970s (or earlier) in Poland, and I'm trying to work out where they come from.
I've easily identified the origin of the ice bucket, since it has "EIC E839 India" inscribed on the bottom - which clearly means "item E839 from India, produced/imported/pilfered by the East India Company". The East India Company was a world-famous organization and there are plenty of sources concerning its history, so my curiosity is sated.
However, I have trouble identifying the origin of the sugar bowl, which looks like this:
The inscription at the bottom says:
MET
HLS INDIA
Now, while it's clear that this "HLS India" has been a pretty dang prolific exporter to Poland, I have trouble with determining what "HLS India" actually was.
My Google searches are flooded with links to:
- Human Learning Systems India (an education company),
- Honour Lane Shipping (founded in 1997, so about 20+ years too late),
- HLS India Limited (an oil company).
None of the organizations on the "HLS" disambiguation page on Wikipedia seem to be in the overseas shipping business. The East India Company doesn't seem to have used the "HLS" abbreviation, either.
So - what does "MET HLS INDIA" mean?