Far more than merely a display of wealth and taste, jewelry is an integral element in the lives of the people of India. Drawing on more than 35 years of collecting and research, Untracht surveys the major Indian jewelry forms and techniques, exploring Indian jewelry as both an ongoing aesthetic spanning 5,000 years and a highly significant form of cultural expression. 870 illustrations, 220 in color.
Since time immemorial, India has lured those in quest of spices, gold and precious gems. Spanning 5,000 years of this glorious legacy, 'Indian Jewellery: the Golden Smile of India', takes an ethnographic approach to the subject, weaving factual information and sumptuous images with the fascinating stories of ancient travellers to India.
The Journal of Indian Art is still one of the most consulted books on Indian jewellery. It is an authentic source for scholars and collectors who are engaged with traditional Indian jewellery or ancient techniques. The original of Indian Jewellery was edited in 1909 by Thomas Holbein Hendley, comprising Nos. 95-107 of The Journal of Indian Art. The picture plates of this book show native ornaments of British India, demonstrating the vast of Indian jewellery in the eight provinces at the end of the nineteenth century. Examples of the jewellery of past civilizations of Asia and Europe were added for consideration of the history and development of the different styles. The book s illustrations and descriptions of old Indian royal and peasant ornaments are of unaltered interest now, one hundred years later. During this past period, new developments and designs of jewellery have come up, frequently based on the old traditions. The centenary reprint edition of Indian Jewellery was therefore supplemented with photographs of recent Indian jewellery, as an attempt to present revival pieces that are still en vogue after one hundred years, as well as to show examples of new developments which were manufactures after the old style, yet with modifications and adaptations, answering to a modernized taste and demand.
India's rich heritage of jeweled artistry is expressed in extravagant and opulent creations that range from ornaments for every part of the body to ceremonial court objects such as boxes, daggers, and thrones. Treasures from India presents more than sixty iconic works from the renowned Al-Thani collection, including pieces created for the imperial Mughals in the seventeenth century, others made for the nizams of Hyderabad and the maharajas of the Rajput courts from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, Indian-inspired jewelry fashioned by Cartier and other Western firms, and contemporary designs. The lucid text discusses the significance of these objects within the history of Indian jeweled arts, demonstrating how they stand among the highest expressions of Indian culture.
Nick Barnard has selected more than 100 pieces from the V&A's collection to illustrate his subject. This book features stunning photography and recent research, breaking new ground as well as presenting a collection of rare and ravishing significance.
This fascinating volume contains over 500 colour photographs, many from previously undocumented collections. It is full of fascinating historical detail, including the legend of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, now the centrepiece of the State Crown of Queen Elizabeth II. The book explains the skill and techniques of the Indian craftsmen and reveals
Enduring Splendor focuses on the rich and diverse silver jewelry traditions of India's Thar Desert region, stretching across the western states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. These traditions are considered against the background of the five-thousand-year history of jewelry making across the vast Indian Subcontinent. Drawing on recent field research carried out in the city of Jaisalmer, a thriving center of contemporary jewelry production, Enduring Splendor explores for the first time the life and work of four sonis (silversmiths or goldsmiths). To contextualize this recent production, numerous illustrations of very fine examples of ninteenth- and twentieth-century jewelry types that are still worn are included. These objects have been borrowed from the Ronald and Maxine Linde Collection of Jewelry and Ritual Arts of India, part of a promised gift to UCLA, where it will find its future home with the Fowler Museum. The Linde Collection is one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of Indian jewelry in the world. This volume highlights elaborate rural styles rendered in silver as well as selected ornate examples, largely associated with the elite, made with gold and gemstones.
Published to accompany the exhibition "Bejewelled Treasures: The Al Thani Collection," held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 21 November 2015 - 28 March 2016.
