FEATURES ARCHIVE

Famed for their wealth and opulence, the Mughals developed a taste for objects produced for the primary purpose of dazzling the viewer with lavish beauty whilst suggesting the affluence and power of the court that commissioned them. Many a visitor arriving at the courts of Indian rulers from the 17th century onwards were unanimously impressed by the material splendour that greeted them, one famously referring to the Mughal court as ‘the treasury of the world’. The Mughals traded widely with the West and in the 16th and 17th centuries were the most important buyers for the emeralds that were being shipped from Columbia by the Spanish. Many were used for jewellery but others were formed into jewelled objects, a glittering group of which form the heart of the collection of Dr. Mohammad Said Farsi, featured in this sale (lots 43-50). The highlight of these is an almost life-size enamelled gold parrot, heavily encrusted with gems.

Animal sculpture was a staple of Indian art, not least under the Mughals. Further to the jewelled parrot, another example of the Mughal love for animals and representations thereof can be found in this sale in the form of an exceptionally elegant ram’s head dagger. Carved in jade, not only does the dagger demonstrate the skill of the Mughal craftsmen but also  their ability to inventively and playfully produce aesthetically pleasing and useful objects which no doubt  highlighted the wearer’s position at court.