Dish, fluted leaf shape with smaller leaves and pierced stem handle, scalloped rim, off-white nephrite jade, Mughal, 18th or 19th century

A very shallow dish or tray, fashioned in off-white nephrite jade as a pointed, multi-ribbed leaf with carved channels that extend outwards from a central rib to a scalloped rim. At the broader end there are two carved side-leaves with one on either face. The side-leaf on the underside shares the same curved and pierced stem as the main leaf and the dish stands upon this side leaf and the its ribbed underside of the main leaf. The dish has a reasonable overall polish and contains a few small, iron-stained cracks or flaws.

Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Schwaiger Bequest

This dish was bequeathed by Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Schwaiger.

Adele Helena Schwaiger (nee Dixon), was an actress and singer. She studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and later trained at RADA.
In August 1928, she married Ernest Schwaiger, a jeweller working at Cartier and who was the son of Imre Schwaiger, a leading dealer and authority on gems and eastern works of art. Her last appearance was in the West End musical, Belinda Fair, after which she retired.
Adele and Ernest amassed a significant collection of eastern works of art including Mughal Empire and Chinese jades and other hardstones as well as Japanese netsukes. They remained a devoted couple until Ernest's death in 1976 and, following Adele's death in 1992, their collection was bequeathed to The Victoria & Albert Museum.

This salver was made within the Mughal empire in the 18th or 19th century. It has been fashioned from a single piece of nephrite jade, which is a hard and durable material that requires patience and skill to work. 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.

IS.24-1997