THE SETTING LUCKNOW OR JAIPUR, EARLY 19TH CENTURY; THE AGATE EARLIER

Amin Jaffer compares the setting of this amulet to that of the original Koh-i-Noor diamond, made in Lahore in around 1818 (Amin Jaffer, Beyond Extravagance: A Royal Collection of Gems and Jewels, London, 2013, p.196, no78). Another similarly mounted agate is in the Al-Sabah Collection (inv.no.LNS753J). However, there is compelling evidence which suggests that our agate amulet itself is considerably earlier. A very similar stone, that had been drilled for suspension, was said to be from the Indus valley civilisations (Oliver Hoare, Every Object Tells a Story, London, 2017, no.244). Similar stones have been associated with the Bactrian, Urartian and Sumerian kingdoms; unfortunately few have documented archaeological contexts. The use of these stones through the eastern classical world is without doubt, and it seems very probable that our amulet represents the re-mounting of a far older agate with talismanic properties.

The reverse of the mount, as well as the style of the fittings at each end, may be compared to a bazuband in the National Museum, New Delhi (published in Rita Devi Sharma and Muthusamy Varadarajan, Handcrafted Indian Enamel Jewellery, New Delhi, 2008, p.44). A further example published in the same book (op cit., p. 86) also features an enameled ornithological scene on the reverse. Since both of these are attributed to Jaipur, it suggests that this piece might be as well. However, the possibility of Lucknow is also suggested by a scabbard in the Metropolitan Museum of Art adorned with similar blue-enamelled roundels containing paired birds (36.25.1302a, b).