Domestic thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
South Asia Gallery, Room 41

Domestic

c.1700-1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Mughal Empire (made)

This small box and cover is made of rock crystal set with rubies and emeralds in gold. The silver mounts and hinges are probably later than the box, which would have been made within the Mughal empire, probably in the first half of the 18th century. It was bequeathed to the museum by Arthur Wells of Nottingham in 1882, who bought it at the 1875 sale of the collection of mainly Mughal hardstones formed by the late Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie. Part of the Guthrie collection was already in the museum, having been bought by the Indian Museum in 1868 and transferred to South Kensington in 1879.


Object details

Categories
Containers
Hardstone
Gemstones
Object type
Domestic
Materials and techniques
Crystal with rubies, emeralds and silver gilt
Brief description
BOX AND COVER: rock crystal set with rubies and emeralds in gold with later silver gilt mounts. Moghul. 18th century.
Physical description
Box and cover: rock crystal set with rubies and emeralds in gold with later silver gilt mounts.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.9cm
  • Width: 10.1cm
Gallery label
BOX AND COVER: Crystal set with rubies and emeralds in gold with later silver gilt mounts. Moghul. 18th century.(2001, Nehru Gallery)
Credit line
Wells Bequest
Object history
Bought by Arthur Wells of Nottingham from the Guthrie sale, 1875, and bequeathed by him to the museum in 1882.
Production
Mughal
Summary
This small box and cover is made of rock crystal set with rubies and emeralds in gold. The silver mounts and hinges are probably later than the box, which would have been made within the Mughal empire, probably in the first half of the 18th century. It was bequeathed to the museum by Arthur Wells of Nottingham in 1882, who bought it at the 1875 sale of the collection of mainly Mughal hardstones formed by the late Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie. Part of the Guthrie collection was already in the museum, having been bought by the Indian Museum in 1868 and transferred to South Kensington in 1879.
Bibliographic references
  • The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982 Number: ISBN 0 906969 26 3 p. 122, cat. no. 374, Robert Skelton
  • The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950] p. 231, cat. no. 1206
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
1671-1882

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Record createdJune 12, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O155888/domestic-unknown/
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