MUGHAL INDIA OR DECCAN, 18TH/19TH CENTURY

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.