The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.268

v1.c10.268

**Teapoys :** As stands for betel boxes, drinking cups and the like, the first kind of footstool, (Woodcut No. 29) was, as already described, generally used, but it would seem from some bas-reliefs on the Bhuvanéśvara temples, that another kind of stand was preferred for such purposes in rich houses. It resembled very closely the modern teapoy, but without the characteristic three legs, it being fixed in a thick heavy carved block, which gave it much greater firmness on the ground than modern teapoys can claim. The stems of all the specimens were carved into a series of balls fixed upon each other, or formed into a twisted flute, and the tops carved in various designs. Woodcut No. 44 exhibits a plain specimen, and No. 45 a rich one, both taken from the Great Tower; the latter had a betel box on its top, but in such a decayed state that no trustworthy drawing could be made of it.