A LIDDED ROCK CRYSTAL BOX
A LIDDED ROCK CRYSTAL BOX
A LIDDED ROCK CRYSTAL BOX
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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION
A LIDDED ROCK CRYSTAL BOX

MUGHAL INDIA OR DECCAN, 18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details
A LIDDED ROCK CRYSTAL BOX
MUGHAL INDIA OR DECCAN, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
The body modelled as a four-petalled rosette with slightly tapering walls, the rounded lid carved with four lobes and a bulbous finial opening to reveal four compartments, the finial repaired
2 5/8in. (6.6cm.) across at base

Brought to you by

Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam
Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam Head of Sale

Lot Essay


Lobed boxes with three, four, or as many as eight sections are known to have been made in the Mughal period, though their purpose is unclear. Though larger boxes of this type are often described as pandans, they may have served as containers for spices, cosmetics, or other precious materials. Most known examples are executed in jade, like the example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a matching tray (02,18.777a-c), making this rock-crystal example quite unusual. The elegant curving design of the present lot can be compared to a rock crystal cup in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (02612(IS)) and the unusual fish-shaped box which was sold as part of The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection, Christie’s New York, 24 October 2022, lot 1158.

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