Casket, bloodstone, gilt silver, European mounts, 19th century, damaged

A casket with polished, flat, bevelled panels of green and red jasper/bloodstone in an ornate, gilt silver framework.
In the centre of the top panel is mounted a gilt silver figure of a kneeling knight bearing an unsheathed sword and holding a cross. Two narrow panels in the lid are broken and several larger panels have hairline cracks. On the front panel, attached to the lower metal frame, there is a shield bearing a coronet. The framework is distorted and there is wear to the gilding.

Wells Bequest

The bloodstone panels were fashioned in India and then set into European silver-gilt mounts. At the time of acquisition, it was said "to have come from the Palace at Delhi". It was acquired by Arthur Wells who was a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882. This collection was left to the museum in his will - the Wells Bequest.

This casket has been fashioned with Indian bloodstone/jasper panels set into European silver-gilt mounts. On acquisition, it was said "to have come from the Palace at Delhi".

1546-1882