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Lot Essay
A similar eagle is in the al-Sabah collection, Kuwait (Marylin Jenkins (ed.), Islamic Art from the Kuwait National Museum, the Al-Sabah Collection, London, 1982, p.133; also Manuel Keene and Salam Kaoukji, Treasury of the World, London, 2001, no.8.38, p.108). In the first publication it was catalogued as "North India, Probably 18th Century" which was later revised to "Probably Deccan, later 16th/1st quarter 17th century". Both our eagle, and the Al-Sabah eagle have ruby beaks from which is suspended a single pearl. A third very similar example was formerly with Spink and Son (Oppi Untract, Traditional Jewelry of India, New York, 1997, no.507, p.237, attributed to late 18th century Tamil Nadu).
Another similar example is in the Khalili Collection (J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, Abu Dhabi, 2008, no.442, pp.368-69). In the catalogue entry for the Khalili eagle, Rogers mentions that the heraldic stance was popular in European jewellery of the high Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and it is very probable that these eagles reflect a tradition established by Italian craftsmen working at the Mughal court in the 17th century (Rogers, op.cit., p.369).
Another similar example is in the Khalili Collection (J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, Abu Dhabi, 2008, no.442, pp.368-69). In the catalogue entry for the Khalili eagle, Rogers mentions that the heraldic stance was popular in European jewellery of the high Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and it is very probable that these eagles reflect a tradition established by Italian craftsmen working at the Mughal court in the 17th century (Rogers, op.cit., p.369).