Ornaments for jewellery, leaf form, flat base, carved detail on top with three having an additional protrusion, greyish green nephrite jade, India

Seven ornaments fashioned in greyish green nephrite jade with each being carved as an elongated triangular leaf with a dissected margin. The bases are flat and unpolished with the upper faces being carved and polished with channels either side of a ridge that runs down the mid-line. On each of three leaves (616 to B-1874), at the wide end, there is an integral carved and contoured protrusion.

These jade ornaments were acquired by William Tayler during his time in India (1829-1867). He subsequently sold them to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1874 for the sum of £4-0-0.

William Tayler was educated in England at Charterhouse and also spent a term at Christ Church, Oxford. He entered service with the East India Company on 30th April 1829, arriving in India in October of the same year. He held various posts in Bengal and was appointed Commissioner of Patna in 1855. During his service, he was able to acquire many objects, including hardstones, relating to the customs and religions of India as well as objects from other parts of South Asia.
He was criticised for his handling of the uprisings in Northern India and was moved to a lesser post before being suspended, ultimately resigning on 29th March 1859. He then practised as an advocate in the law courts of Bengal before returning to England in 1867.
He wrote a book about his experiences, entitled Thirty-eight Years in India, in which he states that "After my return to England, circumstances induced me, though with great reluctance, to part with the collection which is now in the South Kensington Museum".

The function of these nephrite jade ornaments is unclear but they would have been made for a person of some means.

616 to F-1874