Turban Ornament thumbnail 1
Turban Ornament thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
South Asia Gallery, Room 41

Turban Ornament

early 18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This Indian jewel for the male turban is one of a small group bought by the museum from a Mr Talyarkhan in 1922 and 1923. He had purchased them from the Maharaja of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and it is thought that this example was made by the court jewellers of Jaipur in the early 18th century.
Turban jewels in the Mughal tradition of the subcontinent from the 16th century were emblems of royalty, worn only by the emperor and his sons. However, by the 18th century when this jewel was probably made, Mughal power had declined and formerly intractable rules were being broken. The rulers of regional kingdoms, whether Hindu or Muslim, then also adopted turban jewels as emblems of rank, and were virtually independent, even though they still formally acknowledged the Mughal emperor as their ruler.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold and enamel
Brief description
Turban ornament, enamelled gold set with rubies, possibly Jaipur, India, early 18th century.
Physical description
Turban ornament of enamelled gold set with rubies.
Dimensions
  • Height: 7.9cm
  • Width: 3cm
Credit line
Purchased from A.F.S. Talyarkhan, Esq. c/o Thomas Cook & Son, Ludgate Circus, E.C.4
Object history
Susan Stronge, Nima Smith, and J.C. Harle. A Golden Treasury : Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent London : Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 1988. ISBN: 0944142168, Cat 41, p.54.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This Indian jewel for the male turban is one of a small group bought by the museum from a Mr Talyarkhan in 1922 and 1923. He had purchased them from the Maharaja of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and it is thought that this example was made by the court jewellers of Jaipur in the early 18th century.
Turban jewels in the Mughal tradition of the subcontinent from the 16th century were emblems of royalty, worn only by the emperor and his sons. However, by the 18th century when this jewel was probably made, Mughal power had declined and formerly intractable rules were being broken. The rulers of regional kingdoms, whether Hindu or Muslim, then also adopted turban jewels as emblems of rank, and were virtually independent, even though they still formally acknowledged the Mughal emperor as their ruler.
Bibliographic reference
Susan Stronge, Nima Smith, and J.C. Harle. A Golden Treasury : Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent London : Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 1988. p.54
Collection
Accession number
IM.45-1922

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJanuary 14, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest