Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
£40,000 - £60,000
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Provenance: formerly in a Danish royal collection.
The most striking and unique contribution of Mughal lapidaries to jade craftsmanship was probably the use of gold and brightly coloured gem-stones, all of which served to exhibit the lavishness of Mughal nobility for which India was renowned.
A group of Mughal mirrors attributed to the 17th Century can be found in the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad (Nigam, M.L., Jade Collection in the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, 1979, figs. 4-8); fig. 6 bears the closest resemblance to the current lot, sharing a similar flowering plant, finial and handle.
The naturalistic treatment of the flowers draws comparison with the designs found on architectural panels of the 17th Century, in particular the Red Fort, the Diwan i-Khas and other buildings of Shah Jahan's period. The chevron band also appears on Mughal buildings of this era. Parallels can also be found on bidri ware from the Deccan.