Pot and cover, round, rock crystal with engraved channel decoration and inset with gold, rubies and emeralds in a foliate design, Delhi India, 18th century

A pot and cover, fashioned in rock crystal and polished all over.
The pot is of two-piece construction with a squat, rounded form and a narrower, gently flared neck that has been fashioned as a separate piece and then attached to the body. The body and the neck are decorated with engraved/carved vertical channels that lie between narrow, plain borders and there is a band of inset gold and 26 faceted rubies in a foliate design confined within two narrow gold bands. The pot stands on a short foot which has a shallow, concave recess that has been carved with an overlapping, double row of leaves or petals. There are areas of the pot that contain natural inclusions and defects and there is also a major, vertical crack to the side wall and a second, smaller crack lower down which runs down into the base/foot. There are also cracks running right around the neck, just above the join where the neck has been set into the body, which coincides with the upper of the two, narrow gold bands.
The cover is round and gently domed with a centrally located finial that has been fashioned separately and then attached to the cover. The upper/external surface has been carved/engraved with radiating channels that widen as they approach an outer ring of inset gold and 22 faceted emeralds in a foliate design, confined within two narrow gold borders. The finial is inset with gold and 4 faceted rubies, and the base of the finial has been damaged, with a fragment missing. There is a raised, inner ring (chipped) to the rim for locating the cover onto the neck of the pot.
The gems have been mounted in closed, reflective settings that have been coloured appropriately.

Purchased from Imre Schwaiger Esq, 39 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, W.1

This pot and cover were probably made in Delhi in the early 18th century by Imperial craftsmen. It was bought from Mr. Imre Schwaiger in 1922 for the sum of £65-0-0.
Imre Leonard Schwaiger was a well-respected dealer in gems, jewellery and eastern works of art. He was of Hungarian descent and, as a young man, he travelled to India where he became expert in appraising them, later becoming the foremost dealer and agent in such objects.
He built up a list of important clients and was friends with Jacques Cartier, looking after Cartier's interests in Delhi and acting as the company's agent in the purchase of gems, jewellery and objets d'art. Schwaiger was also responsible for introducing Cartier to all of the maharajas and other royals during his visit to India for the Dehi Durbar in 1911.
Imre Schwaiger developed a close working relationship with both the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum, assisting them with a number of acquisitions. He also generously donated a number of valuable objects to both institutions.

The pot and the cover were said on acquisition to have been made in Delhi and probably date from the early 18th century. They have been fashioned out of crystals of clear, colourless quartz. Rock crystal is a hard and durable material which requires patience and skill to fashion objects of this quality, especially when using rudimentary equipment such as bow-driven lathes and wheels. To carve the recesses for this design and the subsequent setting of the rubies, emeralds and gold would have required very skilled craftsmen. Even today, reproducing such work would still provide a major challenge to the modern lapidary. The cup and cover were bought from the noted Hungarian dealer Imre Schwaiger, who was based in Delhi and London and was a friend and business associate of Jacques Cartier.

IM.144&A-1922