Lotus cup

Lotus cup

India, Mughal art, (1526-1858)

Finely carved in mottled pale jade, in the form of a six-sided flower, each carved on the outside with a tulip plant. The inside is carved with a central flower from which emerge foliage and flowering scrolls with bud-like terminations. The base is carved on the reverse with a lotus flower. H : 2.7 cm ; L : 8.5 cm. This beautiful bowl, whose carving deliberately blends the inclusions into the forms depicted, is an example of the hard stone carvings that were popular in the Mughal period. Nephrite and related hard stones are thought to have been introduced to the Mughals in the mid-16th century, when a Khotanese jade merchant "visited the court of Emperor Akbar and enabled the Mughals to indulge a taste for jade already acquired by their Timurid ancestors in Central Asia" (Joseph M. Dye III, The Arts of India, Virginia, 2001, p.408). It was Akbar's son, Prince Salim, future emperor Jahangir (r.1605-1627), who brought about a notable increase in the production of beautifully carved jade objects in India. The production of jade objects continued under Emperor Aurangzeb, but towards the end of his reign, a decline in artistic quality was noted in the stereotyped forms of the late 18th century. Provenance : Jean-Charles Tauzin Collection (1889-1957) A jade cup in the shape of a lotus, India, Mughal art, (1526-1858)