17TH-18TH CENTURY

Details

A VERY RARE MUGHAL WHITE JADE OCTAGONAL BOX AND COVER
17TH-18TH CENTURY
Each facet is carved in low relief with paired stylised leaves and tendrils rising either side of an inset iron shield similarly decorated in
gold koftgari and centered with a jade bead, the faceted domed cover surmounted by a fluted knop inset with a Mughal table cut diamond mounted in gold, the panels on the cover alternately repeating the design on the base with iron panels of gold koftgari between designs of lotus flowers, their centres with additional diamonds mounted in gold.
3 7⁄8 in. (9.8 cm.) wide

Provenance

George Horan Ltd., St Christopher's Place, London, 1974
Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1594

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

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.

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