17TH-18TH CENTURY

The stylised borders of lotus designs, the application of inlaid panels with gold applied to the surface in the koftgari manner found on the present box and cover was well-known to artists from the Mughal courts and is evident on khanjar daggers and sword decoration in wide usage in China and Tibet.

An octagonal jade box and cover of similar faceted form is illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Hindustan Jade in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1983, Catalogue, no. 62. Compare also an octagonal box with domed cover and glass inlay, illustrated ibid., no. 61.