Spouted stem cup with lid, white nephrite jade, inlaid gold with inset rubies, Mughal, late 17th century, formerly in the Guthrie Collection

A cup with lid, fashioned in white nephrite jade, with a good polish and with inlaid gold and inset ruby cabochons in reflective, closed-back gold settings.
The cup stands on an attached stem that has a flared foot. Originating from near its base, the cup has an integral spout that rises up and ends at the same level as the cup's rim. The spout has inlaid gold wire decoration on its upper side and it ends with an oval, widely-flared and dished lip that bears lightly carved channels to the underside. The interior of the cup is smooth and well polished. On the exterior, around and just below the rim there is a narrow, inlaid, gold wire ring from which are attached seven, equally-spaced gold trefoils. Around the join of the stem to the cup, there is a narrow ring of inset gold wire from which were once attached, via a short length of gold wire inlay, six ruby cabochons inset in gold settings. One ruby has since become detached and is absent. Around the lower end of the stem, towards the flared foot, there is a narrow ring of inlaid gold wire (some of which is missing) from which were once attached, via a short length of gold wire, eight ruby cabochons inset in gold settings. One ruby has since become detached and is absent. The base of the foot is recessed, leaving an outer ring and there is evidence of two small plugs glued and set into the inside of this ring.
The finely worked, domed cover has a plain, smooth and polished underside. The upper surface is smooth and polished with a small, central, integral handle that is inset with a ruby cabochon in a gold setting. The handle is surrounded by six inset ruby cabochons in gold settings that connect to the handle via short lengths of inlaid gold wire. The rim of the lid has been carved to give a raised outer ring to allow the lid to locate securely onto the cup.

This cup and cover were originally in the Guthrie collection and were purchased together with object [02546(IS)] for the sum of £20-0-0, 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 cup and lid clearly illustrate the skill of the craftsmen who were producing fine objects within the Mughal empire from the early 17th century. Each 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. This is especially true when the process requires hollowing out cavities to form containers or other receptacles. They have then been carved with recesses and then set with gold and ruby cabochons. 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.

02537(IS) to 02537A/(IS)