PROBABLY JAIPUR, NORTH INDIA, 19TH CENTURY

From the 17th century visitors arriving at the courts of Indian rulers were greatly impressed by the material splendour they found. The lavishness of the interiors that greeted them, highlighted with small accents given by enamelled and jewelled objects, rarely failed to be noted. Sir Thomas Roe, who was sent as an embassy to Jahangir in 1615-18 described the Mughal court as 'the treasury of the world' (Susan Strong, Nima Smith and J.C. Harle, A Golden Treasury. Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent, London, 1989, p.27). This elaborate and finely decorated gold rosewater sprinkler demonstrates the continuation of this tradition into the 19th century. Jaipur in particularly established a reputation as a centre for enamelled and jewelled items.

The gold body of the sprinkler is decorated in relief with acanthus leaves on the base and at the narrowing of the circular body to which a thin layer of green enamel has been applied. Such relief decoration is found on the neck of a flask from 18th century Jaipur in the Khalili Collection (JLY 1803). Like our sprinkler, the Khalili flask has a minor bands of light blue enamel, a colour characteristic of the Jaipur workshops. The navy blue circular panel on each flat side is set with diamonds in a radiating arrangement is similar to diamond-set cusped blue panels on the side of a magnificent enamelled ewer from Jaipur, circa 1900, which sold in these Rooms, 10 October 2013, lot 214.