“Wearing the jewel on his neck, Satrajit
entered Dwaraka. He shone as brightly as the sun itself, O King, and thus he went unrecognized
because of the jewel's effulgence. As the people looked at Satrajit from a distance,
his brilliance blinded them. They presumed he was the sun-god, Surya” [verses from the Bhagavat Purana, India, circa 9th century] From ancient times the idea of wearing on your head or on your ears or around your neck or on your fingers a great gem is an ancient early instinct of man. This exhibition represents 400 years of Indian jewellery spanning from the great days of the Mughal Empire through to the 18th century, a period of political chaos the British Raj in the 19th century until contemporary designers who are working in India or inspired by Indian jewellery. These ancient walls with their Eastern motifs
belong to neither the Jal Mahal, the Water Palace in Jaipur, nor to Delhi’s Jama Masjid,
the world-reflecting mosque. This is Venice, and we are in the Doge’s Palace: residence
of the Doges, and former seat of the city’s government. Its inlaid marble and arabesques
offer the perfect backdrop for exhibiting the most astonishing of oriental treasures,
the Al Thani Collection of Indian jewels. Assembled with passion by His Highness Sheikh
Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, these clusters of gems,
necklaces and artefacts adorned with precious stones will take visitors on an enchanting
journey through a legendary history of lost empires. The collection has been formed between 2010 and now. It is nevertheless the most comprehensive collection of it's kind with an enormous depth and breadth in each and every section of the exhibition spanning from the 16th century until the present day. The Al Thani Collection really regroups pieces from former Indian treasuries and creates in one opportunity a chance to really see how rich the gem culture of India was. What immediately strikes us about this exhibition
is how deeply significant these jewels are in Indian culture. They symbolised membership
to a particular caste, a person’s region of origin and their marital status. What is most surprising however, especially for westerners, is the fact that these necklaces, bracelets
and rings were worn mostly by men, and far less frequently by women. Indeed, their priceless
value and exquisite craftsmanship made them the prized possessions of emperors, kings
and maharajas. The splendour of the stones reflected the sovereign’s prestige and benevolence,
whilst the diamond’s hardness symbolised virility and power. Although the Buddha renounced a life of luxury
and didn’t wear jewels, the enlightened Bodhisattva practitioners, freed from the
cycle of reincarnation, did. The sparkling gems adorning their bodies reflected the glory,
aura and sacred splendour surrounding them. Precious stones and their twinkling light
were seen as talismans which could even influence the life of Man. In traditional Hinduism there were 9 stones that were considered to be auspicious. This was known as the Navratna, the 9 precious stones, the 9 gems. and it was believed that each gem was associated with a different planetary influence. So in order to balance your horoscope you wore a piece of jewellery with the 9 gems represented. We must always be cognisant of the fact that in India, gemstones were not just worn for their beauty or for their value, they had a deeper purpose they had a cosmic meaning. One wore a gem to balance one's horoscope, to bring good health, to bring good fortune, to bring protection, to counter an evil force around one. All nine precious stones of the Navaratna
were available in India or in the neighbouring countries, which explains, in part, the degree
of perfection attained in gems of the subcontinent. Diamonds came from the mines of Golconda,
sapphires from Kashmir and rubies from Burma, whilst pearls from the Persian Gulf were
washed up on Indian shores by the monsoons. India was the recipient of huge metal wealth and the metal wealth combined with the mineral wealth led to the creation of a very rich tradition of jewellery. There's certain things that are very distinctive about Indian jewellery one of them is the use of a very pure gold in which jeweller's had perfected a way of setting gems without any visible mounts. This is known as the kundan setting and you'll see it throughout the collection and it's rather extraordinary if it is your first vision of Indian jewellery to see how you can have an object or jewel that is completely covered with diamonds and rubies and emeralds without any claws and without any mounds. Like their ancestors Tamerlane and Genghis
Khan, the Mughals wreaked terror on the battlefield, but they also knew how to appreciate art and
beauty. Despite being born sword in hand, they knew the pleasure of stooping down to
smell the scent of a flower. It is thanks to their love of all the precious and refined
things nature has to offer that this exhibition in Venice exists. Gems bearing the glorious
names of sovereigns light up the darkness. The first section of the exhibition really focuses on dynastic gems and jewels. We open with a group of spinels. Spinels are stones from central Asia that look a little bit like rubies and according to the traditions of the ancestors of the Mughal emperors spinels were often inscribed with the name of a ruler and the title of a ruler and they were passed from one generation to the next in a sense creating a dynastic purpose to the jewel. So if an emperor received a spinel engraved with the name of his great grandfather he really held a tender value to the stone, he really felt it embodied the spirit of his ancestor and reflected his greatness and his glory. In wearing it against his skin, it empowered him with a sense of his dynasty and his lineage. Emeralds of substantial scale are very evident in this component of the exhibition and it's remarkable to see in any place in the world, so many fine emeralds. We have to remember that the Mughals loved the emerald because it was green. In Islam, green is the colour of paradise. It was believed to be the favourite colour of the prophet so it was worn with great joy and with a sense of auspiciousness to wear an emerald was believed to be an enormous fortune. However, in India, the most propitiatory and
benevolent power was attributed to diamonds. And there are many to be found in this “Aladdin’s
cave”; including the famous 17-carat diamond Arcot II. Gifted to Queen Charlotte of Great Britain
by the Nawab of Arcot in the second half of the 18th century, it was eventually imbedded into the crown of King George IV. Interestingly, it was actually the reputation of gems as large as these which led to the rise of the Mughal
dynasty two centuries earlier. Its founder, Babar, left central Asia in the 16th century
when his attraction for jewels led him to India, then under the reign of the powerful
sultan Ibrahim Lodhi. However, the Mughals’ extravagant tastes
do not date back to Babur the Conqueror. It was his son Humayun, a skilful warrior, who
first encountered exquisite Persian art whilst staying at the palace of Shah Tahmasp. Humayun
fell to his death by tripping on his robe when he attempted to bow upon hearing the
call to prayer. Nevertheless, it is him we have to thank for the birth of Mughal art,
literature, architecture and jewellery. The second part of the exhibition, dedicated
to jade and rock crystal artefacts, bears witness to a rich array of shapes and colours.
Delicate cameos depicting the sovereign, which were worn by courtiers; adorned cups, such
as this one belonging to Emperor Jahangir, made out of jade because he believed it could
detect the presence of poison in drinks; artefacts portraying the life and clothing of the Indian
courts: swords and daggers with handles representing animals; opium spoons; mouthpieces for hookahs;
archers’ thumb rings; falconry cuffs; fly-whisks decorated with gems; and back-scratchers tipped
with bejewelled hands. One of the masterpieces here which is an extraordinary work of art is a small dagger made for the emperor Shah Jahan he was the ruler, the aesthete, who built the Taj Mahal. So this little dagger belonged to Shah Jahan and the blade has is inscription and his title on it. What is extraordinary is the hilt, if you look carefully at the hilt you will see at the top a head of a figure of a young boy who is wearing a ruffled collar and an earring and you can see when you examine closely that this is imagery coming from Europe. It might be a European boy or it might be a Blackamoor but clearly it's an image the emperor cherished and loved maybe as a talisman or maybe as a symbol of good fortune. The third part of the Al Thani Collection
is an exhibition of gold and enamelled objects and jewels; artefacts which demonstrate the
highest levels of craftsmanship. For example, Emperor Aurangzeb’s Persian-inspired pen-box and inkwell; the rosewater bottle encrusted with rubies, pearls and emeralds; amulet lockets
containing miniature copies of the Quran; and highly symbolic animal figurines, such
as the tiger head adorning the throne of Tipu Sultan, proud ruler of the Kingdom of Mysor;
or the Mughal parrots from the city of Hyderabad: when a parrot’s shadow was cast over a man,
it was believed he would become king. The man who sparked the Mughals’ interest
in Italian and Western art and culture was one of the greatest, most tolerant and most
enlightened leaders of all antiquity: Akbar, who became emperor at the young age of 14.
During his reign, Akbar founded a new city, Fatehpur Sikri, which was destined to host
gatherings of religious leaders of all faiths. This Venetian exhibition is very much in keeping
with Akbar’s spirit, fusing together different cultures and religions with a love of jewels.
In the Scrutinio room of the Doge’s Palace hang great pictures depicting the Battle of
Lepanto between the fleets of the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League. In the palace’s
architecture, however, with its intricate pinnacles and pointed windows, one can sense
the Asian influence and openness to exotic worlds which made Venice the gateway to the
East for centuries. This is the perfect city for showcasing the Al Thani Collection, a
cultural fusion of two worlds. India’s openness to the West and tolerance
of other religions, came to a sudden halt in 1658 when the severe ruler Aurangzeb rose to the Mughal throne. He was to be the last ruler
of the Empire, now too vast to stay united. In 1739, Nader Shah of Persia sacked Delhi and returned home with 39 cartloads of jewels. In the tumultuous period that followed, more
land would be lost to European powers, such as Great Britain, and wealthy local rulers
such as the Nawabs and Maharajas. What does this mean for jewellery? In the 18th century we see, and it continues in the 19th century jewelry forms becoming more extravagant, larger scale. A second thing that happens with the rise of western dominance in India I speak particularly of the British is that Indian Princes start to be influenced by western setting techniques. They begin to be influenced by the claw settings of Europe eventually they become influenced by the platinum and the silver settings of Europe. and the symmetry of European jewellery also starts to enter Indian jewellery so we start to see a period of fusion, where Indian jewellers are beginning to adopt western techniques, more than techniques, it's western style. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
Indian Maharajas and their families often travelled to Paris and London, taking their
family jewels to the great jewellery houses, such as Cartier, to have them remounted in
the latest Western fashion. This created an intense exchange of Indian and European styles, encouraging Jacques Cartier to visit Delhi in 1911, where he met several Maharajas and,
above all, absorbed the luxurious aesthetics of India, which he conveyed in an extensive
range of Art Déco masterpieces. One example is the Tutti Frutti brooches, so named for their likeness to the coloured sweets popular at
the time; another is the necklace created for the Maharaja of Nawanagar,
which was even worn to Truman Capote’s legendary ball at New York’s Plaza Hotel
in 1966. So particularly fine representation of this dialogue between Indian princes and western jewellery houses is seen in the famous Tiger's Eye turban ornament and this is an ornament that is designed to be worn in the turban by the Maharajah Digvijaysinhji of Nawanagar a state in Gujarat in Western India so Cartier made an extraordinary turban ornament, totally contemporary for a classical Indian shape using a beautiful golden coloured diamond of more than 60 carats. and it's a tour de force of 20th century jewellery and an extraordinary synthesis of Indian functionality and European taste and styling. What's exceptional is the stone itself was so precious and beautiful that it was designed so that it could be removed from the mount so the Maharaja could play with it. The last section of the exhibition focuses on contemporary jewellery. It's perhaps unique in the sense that other collections of Indian jewellery have focused always on historical material. This collection really looks at Indian jewellery traditions and their influences today. We have the work of a small group of really superlative jewellers, we have Bulgari also, we have the famous Parisian jeweller JAR and we have the work of Bhagat who is an Indian jeweller based in Bombay but who is inspired by Mughul tradition and Indian tradition. And one of the pieces I would like to speak about in particular is extremely delicate and inventive design by JAR which is a brooch in the form of an Indian cusped window. The window is actually defined by historic emerald and the cusp window if you turn it on the other side you'll see that the gold framework is made in the form of a Jali. A Jali is a pierced screen. Typical of Indian architecture which was used to let air flow without visibility, so it was traditionally found in palaces especially in the women's portion of the palace so they could see outside without anybody seeing in. The work of gifted contemporary designers
such as JAR, show us how the fine artisan craftsmanship of Indian jewellers has been
preserved to the highest standards, from the Moghul Empire to the modern day. Before our eyes,
here in Venice, these sparkling treasures celebrate centuries-old traditions, the work
of men who could transform the subterranean fruits of the Earth into works of art, manuscripts of
light which tell the tales of one of our world’s most fascinating lands: India.
