Lot 164
164
A MUGHAL GEM-SET NEPHRITE JADE FLYWHISK HANDLE
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A MUGHAL GEM-SET NEPHRITE JADE FLYWHISK HANDLE

NORTH INDIA OR DECCAN, LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Details
A MUGHAL GEM-SET NEPHRITE JADE FLYWHISK HANDLE
NORTH INDIA OR DECCAN, LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY
With cylindrical pale green nephrite jade shaft around a metal core inlaid with gold linked hexagons below a band of ruby-inset leaf motifs, the upper cup-shaped terminal formed from a separate piece of jade inlaid with gold and inset gems forming tendrils and flowers, shaft broken in two places, one at band of missing inlay, the other covered by a gold sheath
8¾in. (22cm.) long
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

While flywhisks do not appear frequently in texts of the period, they features very prominently in portraits of Indian and particularly Mughal rulers. The main figure is frequently attended by one or more flywhisk bearers. Flywhisks thus became an indicator of rank, such that, by the mid-seventeenth century, small delicate flywhisks were carried by nobles as accoutrements appropriate to their position. A number of enthronement scenes in the Padshahnama show one of the senior courtiers standing behind the Emperor holding a flywhisk in addition to the two more prominent servants, each with larger examples who tend to flank the monarch. Even Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan's chosen successor, is shown on his own in a portrait now in the Khalili Collection, standing with a sword over the right shoulder and a flywhisk by his side.

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