PROBABLY JAIPUR, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1900

Details

AN ENAMELLED GOLD CIGARETTE CASE
PROBABLY JAIPUR, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1900
Of rectangular form enamelled in white, red, green, and light and dark blue, at one end a hinged lid with a clasp, the face with flowering plants and birds enclosing a central roundel with a red flowerhead surrounded by further similar motifs, the reverse with a deep blue lattice enclosing flowerheads and birds, the chamfered edges with green enamelled motifs, some loss to the enamel
3 1⁄8 x 1 7/8in. (7.8 x 4.8cm.)

Provenance

By repute Maastricht, 1990s

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The style of the flowers and the birds on our cigarette case, especially the peacock at the lower end, is similar to the reverse of a forehead ornament which was in the al-Thani collection (Susan Stronge, Bejewelled Treasures: the al-Thani Collection, London, 2015, p.106, no.57). Like ours, the palette on that example included both cobalt-blue and turquoise, colours which Stronge suggests were added to the traditional palette of red and green in the second half of the 19th century to appeal to the tastes of Western collectors. Another enamelled cigarette case was sold Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence, Christie's New York, 19 June 2019, lot 100.

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