An important imperial Mughal spinel, inscribed with the title of Shah Jahan and dated...

An important imperial Mughal spinel, inscribed with the title of Shah Jahan and dated 1[0]39AH (1629-30AD), polished and drilled for suspension, hung on gold wire from a 17th century diamond- and spinel-set gold pendant in the form of a flower head, enameled to reverse with a red poppy flower on a white ground, on a string of natural pearls with silver metal thread attachment, spinel approx. 26 carats, pendant 3.7cm. high x 3cm. diam., overall height with spinel 6.6cm., weight 37 grams

Provenance: Private UK Collection, Raja Wazir Singh of Faridkot (1828-1874), and thence by descent

Inscription: "Second Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction 1[0]39

There is a small pendant in the Al Sabah Collection with enamel work on the reverse which seems close to the enamel on the pendant supporting the spinel, particularly in the way the flowers on the sides turn inwards and the design of the plant stem (Treasury of the World, Keene and Kaoukji 2001, p. 67, no. 6.15, LNS 142J).

Imperial Mughal Spinels essay by M.Spink

Spinels, also known as balas rubies, came from Badakhshan in northern Afghanistan. The Mughal rulers of India particularly valued the gem, with surviving examples engraved with the names of emperors from Akbar (r.1556-1605) to Farrukh Siyar (r. 1713-1719). Spinels are mentioned in contemporary literature, including the memoirs of the Mughal emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627). They also appear in miniature paintings, laid on trays of gems, or mounted in jewels. A folio in the St Petersburg Album depicts Jahangir in circa 1625-30 holding a sarpech which is set with a single large spinel.

Many spinels bear the name of more than one Mughal emperor, indicating that a gem remained in the treasury for more than one reign. Some were in effect imperial heirlooms: Jahangir recorded a spinel given to Akbar by his mother Hamida Banu Begum (wife of the emperor Humayun) on the occasion of Jahangirs birth. It later passed in turn to Jahangir and to Shah Jahan. Jahangir specifically mentioned another spinel, inscribed with the name of Ulugh Beg (r. 1447-9), a Timurid ruler, which was presented to him by Shah Abbas of Iran (r. 1587-1629), noting that as it had his ancestors names on it, he regarded the gift as a good omen.

Spinels inscribed during the reign of Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) bear one of two phrases. Some bear his name, written as Shah Jahan son of Jahangir Shah, sometimes but not always with a date and a regnal year. Others, including the present spinel, bear his cipher Second Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction, again with or without the date and regnal year. This is a reference to his ancestor Timur (r.1370-1405) who styled himself Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction. The Mughal emperors emphasized their descent from Timur to strengthen their legitimacy to the Mughal throne. However, none bear both of these phrases on the same stone. There is no single format for either type of inscription. The arrangement of the letters forming these two phrases varies, as does the positioning of the date and regnal year (if present). Similarly, the dots of the letter pointing may vary in location or not be present at all.

Inscribed Mughal spinels survive in a number of important collections, including the British Royal Collection, the Al Thani Collection and the Al-Sabah Collection. Spinels from the Mughal treasury, looted by the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah (r. 1736-47) when he sacked Delhi in 1739, are still to be found today in Iran in the bank vaults holding some of the treasure taken from India.

Many thanks to Michael Spink for his assistance in cataloguing this lot and for writing the accompanying essay

Bibliography:

Content 2016

Derek Content, Ruby, Sapphire & Spinel: An Archaeological, Textual and Cultural Study, Belgium: Brepols, 2016.

Jaffer 2019

Amin Jaffer (ed.), Beyond Extravagance. A Royal Collection of Gems and Jewels, (2nd edition): New York: Assouline, 2019.

Jahangir 1999

Jahangir, The Jahangirnama. Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India, trans. Wheeler Thackston, Washington and Oxford: Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Keene and Kaoukji 2001

M. Keene, and S. Kaoukji, Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals. The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum, London: Thames and Hudson, 2001.

Lightbown 1992

Ronald W. Lightbown, Mediaeval European Jewellery, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992.

Meen and Tushingham 1969

V.B. Meen and A.D. Tushingham, Crown Jewels of Iran, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969

Melikian-Chirvani 2001

A.S. Melikian-Chirvani, The Red Stones of Light in Iranian Culture. I. Spinels, Bulletin of the Asia Institute New Series, volume 15, 2001, pp. 77-110.

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Pedro Moura Carvalho, Gems and Jewels of Mughal India, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, XVIII, London: Nour Foundation with Azimuth Editions, 2010.

Spink and Ogden 2013

Michael Spink and Jack Ogden, The Art of Adornment. Jewellery of the Islamic Lands, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London: Nour Foundation with Azimuth Editions, XVII, 2013.

Stronge 1996

S. Stronge, The myth of the Timur ruby, Jewellery Studies, vol. 7, 1996, pp. 5-12.

Von Habsburg 1996

Francesca von Habsburg (project conception), The St. Petersburg Muraqqa. Album of Indian and Persian Miniatures from the 16th Through the 18th Century and Specimens of Persian Calligraphy by Imad al-Hasani, Lugarno and Milan: ARCH Foundation and Leonardo Arte, 1996

Raja Wazir Singh succeeded in 1849 his father Raja Pahar Singh to the gaddi of Faridkot. A devout Sikh, Wazir Singh had received the rites of initiation at Gurdwara Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded, sacred to Guru Gobind Singh. He founded new villages and introduced several reforms in the land revenue system. He also introduced a system of written plaints and himself held court. He placed his services at the disposal of the British government for the suppression of the 1857 rising and was rewarded with the title of Brar Bans Raja Sahib Bahadur and a salute of eleven guns. Raja Wazir Singh died at Kurukshetra on 21 April 1874 after a reign of 25 years and was succeeded by his son, Bikram Singh.