A circular disc of white nephrite jade, inset rubies and emeralds, inlaid gold, floral design, Mughal empire, from the Guthrie collection.

A circular disc of white nephrite jade with a slightly convex front face that has a fine ring of inlaid gold wire located just in from the edge. Within this ring is an inset floral design consisting of twelve ruby and six emerald, flat-topped cabochons in reflective, coloured, closed-back gold settings. There is evidence of deterioration of this backing in several settings. Additional detail has been provided by inlaid gold wire.
The back face is more steeply convex and it has been carved with a series of three overlapping, concentric rings of leaves that surround a central section that contains two integral, parallel loops that have been carved as elongated leaf fronds that point in opposing directions.

This belt ornament was originally in the Guthrie collection and was purchased for the sum of £24-0-0, when he sold 81 of his objects to The India Museum in 1868. It was subsequently transferred to The South Kensington Museum (later renamed The Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1879.

Charles Seton Guthrie was an important collector of eastern coins and Mughal Empire jade and rock crystal objects. He was the second son of Scottish parents, both of whom were from noble and landed families, and his father worked for the East India Company in Calcutta.
Guthrie most probably developed his interest in jade and rock crystal when he studied geology as a 17 year old cadet in 1825 in Addiscombe, and he joined the Bengal Engineers in 1828.
Through his family’s established connection with the Inglis and Lister families, he became acquainted with Harry Inglis and his Anglo-Indian wife Sophia (nee Lister). He may well have received gifts of objects that Harry had acquired as proceeds from his Indian military campaigns. Harry was the son and heir of George Inglis who owned Inglis & Co., a large Indian trading company.
During his time in India, Charles Guthrie enhanced his collections with acquisitions financed by his army pay and also income from properties in his late mother’s estate.
He subsequently retired at the honorary rank of Colonel in 1857, although he returned to England in 1855, at the same time as Harry and Sophia, due to having 2 years of accumulated leave.
Following Harry’s death in 1860, his embalmed body was returned to India, accompanied by Sophia and Charles, where it was interred in an above-ground tomb. Sophia inherited Harry’s vast estate, which almost certainly contained many fine jewels and Mughal objects. Sophia began living together with Charles in Calcutta, bearing him a son in 1862. Following a financially significant arrangement being agreed by Sophia with Charles, the two eventually married in 1863 with the family returning to England a short time thereafter.
Sophia died in 1866, with Charles being named as an executor with instruction to liquidate her un-itemised English estate which included “jewels, trinkets and shawls”.
Soon thereafter, in 1868, Guthrie sold part of his collection of jade and rock crystal objects to The India Museum and his large coin collection to a museum in Germany. Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie died in 1874 and the remainder of his collections was sold at auction, in accordance with the terms of his will, with many objects finding their way into other important collections and then subsequently to the museum.

This well-crafted belt ornament very clearly illustrates the skill of the craftsmen who were producing fine objects during the time of the Mughal empire, and probably dates to the second half of the 17th century. It has been expertly fashioned from a single piece of nephrite jade, which is a hard and durable material that requires patience and skill to work. Additionally, it has been carved with recesses that have then been inset with gold, rubies and emeralds. Although it is a hard material, when it has been worked to give fine edges or thicknesses, it can be prone to damage by sharp impacts or significant and rapid changes in temperature.
It was previously owned by the notable collector of Mughal jade and rock crystal objects, Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie.

02536(IS)