Mace
c. 1847-56 (made)
| Place of origin |
The ceremonial mace has an eight-flanged head made of jade set with rubies and emeralds in gold. The shaft is made of twelve cylinders of veined agates and bloodstones, and terminates in a domed boss of carnelian set with a yellow topaz in gold. The mace came from the court of Wajid Ali Shah, the last ruler of the kingdom of Awadh (Oudh). It was taken from Lucknow, his capital, by the Special Correspondent to the Times of London, Sir William Howard Russell (1821-1907), after the Siege of Lucknow in 1857 on which he had reported for the newspaper. The kingdom was annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta.
Object details
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | agate, carnelian, bloodstone, gilt copper, gold, rubies, emeralds |
| Brief description | Agate set with rubies and emeralds in gold and with bands of gilt copper, Lucknow, 18th century |
| Physical description | The head of the mace is deeply grooved, and each flange is set with rubies and emeralds in gold. The narrow cylindrical shaft is made up of sections of different colours of agate separated by narrow bands of gilt copper. The domed end of the shaft is a banded pink agate with a large hole bored through the entire section. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Purchased from Mrs R.E. Longfield, The Ladies Empire Club, 69 Grosvenor Street, W.1 |
| Object history | Acquired in Lucknow by the Special Correspondent to the Times of London, Sir William Howard Russell, at the time of the Mutiny. Bought for £150 from Mrs R.E. Longfield in 1922. |
| Historical context | The mace formed part of the regalia of the last ruler of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The ceremonial mace has an eight-flanged head made of jade set with rubies and emeralds in gold. The shaft is made of twelve cylinders of veined agates and bloodstones, and terminates in a domed boss of carnelian set with a yellow topaz in gold. The mace came from the court of Wajid Ali Shah, the last ruler of the kingdom of Awadh (Oudh). It was taken from Lucknow, his capital, by the Special Correspondent to the Times of London, Sir William Howard Russell (1821-1907), after the Siege of Lucknow in 1857 on which he had reported for the newspaper. The kingdom was annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta. |
| Bibliographic reference | India's fabled city : the art of courtly Lucknow / Stephen Markel with Tushara Bindu Gude ; and contributions by Muzaffar Alam ... [et al.]. Munich ;London: Prestel, Johann Gottlieb, c2010 Number: 9783791350752 (hbk.), 3791350757 (hbk.)
cat. no. 43, p. 211. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.120-1922 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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