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Lot Essay
Abu'l Fazl's Ain-i Akbari (Institutes of Akbar), a late 16th century detailed document recording the administration of the emperor Akbar's empire gives a technical description of the practices used within the royal karkhana or workshop, and provides us with an insight into the techniques used to produce pieces such as these. It records that each skill was specific to a different professional, such as an enameller (minakar), engraver (zar nishan) or one practiced in the setting of gems. An individual object, such as this and the others of this group, would therefore have been worked on by a number of craftsmen.
A quintessentially Indian technique, recorded by Abu'l Fazl and used throughout the present group (lots 43-50) is that of kundan or setting of stones. This technique is practiced from the Akbari period until the 19th century when claw settings were introduced via Western jewellery. Susan Strong et al give a comprehensive description of how this technique is carried out - 'the piecesare shaped by the relevant craftsmen and left in separate, hollow halves. Holes are cut for the stones, and any engraving or chasing is carried out, and the pieces are enamelled. When the stones are to be set, lac is inserted in the back, and is then visible from the front through the holes for the stones. Highly refined gold, the kundan, is then used to cover the lac and the stone is pushed into the kundan. More kundan is applied round the edges to strengthen the setting and give a neater appearance' (Susan Strong, Nima Smith and J.C.Harle, A Golden Treasury. Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent, London, 1989, p.30).
Another defining feature of this group of objects is the use of enamels (mina). How and when enamelling was introduced into the Mughal court is unclear. It has been suggested by some that it reached Mughal India through Goa - 16th century pieces made in Goa confirm that local craftsmen had mastered European techniques (Pedro Moura Carvalho, Gems and Jewels of Mughal India. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, 2010, p.19). The first known pieces so decorated are an oratory-reliquary and a gold filigree casket, both now in Lisbon and produced in the late 16th century (Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, inv. nos. 99 and 577). Akbar sent a cultural mission to Goa in 1575 so it is possible that the technique was learnt there. Manuel Keene has recently suggested that from Goa the enamelling may have spread first to the Deccan (Manuel Keene, Treasury of the World. Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals, exhibition catalogue, London, 2001, p.62.
The way in which the diamonds are set into repeated drop-shaped settings recalls a pair of fly-whisk handles, attributed to Rajasthan (probably Jaipur) circa 1750, which are presently in the Khalili Collection (Pedro Moura Carvalho, Gems and Jewels of Mughal India. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, 2010, pp.74-5, no. 19). For a general note on the group of enamelled and gemset objects please see lot 44. A discussion on the Deccani or Mughal attribution can be found in the note to the jewelled parrot, lot 50.
A quintessentially Indian technique, recorded by Abu'l Fazl and used throughout the present group (lots 43-50) is that of kundan or setting of stones. This technique is practiced from the Akbari period until the 19th century when claw settings were introduced via Western jewellery. Susan Strong et al give a comprehensive description of how this technique is carried out - 'the piecesare shaped by the relevant craftsmen and left in separate, hollow halves. Holes are cut for the stones, and any engraving or chasing is carried out, and the pieces are enamelled. When the stones are to be set, lac is inserted in the back, and is then visible from the front through the holes for the stones. Highly refined gold, the kundan, is then used to cover the lac and the stone is pushed into the kundan. More kundan is applied round the edges to strengthen the setting and give a neater appearance' (Susan Strong, Nima Smith and J.C.Harle, A Golden Treasury. Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent, London, 1989, p.30).
Another defining feature of this group of objects is the use of enamels (mina). How and when enamelling was introduced into the Mughal court is unclear. It has been suggested by some that it reached Mughal India through Goa - 16th century pieces made in Goa confirm that local craftsmen had mastered European techniques (Pedro Moura Carvalho, Gems and Jewels of Mughal India. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, 2010, p.19). The first known pieces so decorated are an oratory-reliquary and a gold filigree casket, both now in Lisbon and produced in the late 16th century (Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, inv. nos. 99 and 577). Akbar sent a cultural mission to Goa in 1575 so it is possible that the technique was learnt there. Manuel Keene has recently suggested that from Goa the enamelling may have spread first to the Deccan (Manuel Keene, Treasury of the World. Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals, exhibition catalogue, London, 2001, p.62.
The way in which the diamonds are set into repeated drop-shaped settings recalls a pair of fly-whisk handles, attributed to Rajasthan (probably Jaipur) circa 1750, which are presently in the Khalili Collection (Pedro Moura Carvalho, Gems and Jewels of Mughal India. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, 2010, pp.74-5, no. 19). For a general note on the group of enamelled and gemset objects please see lot 44. A discussion on the Deccani or Mughal attribution can be found in the note to the jewelled parrot, lot 50.