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"Treasury of the World"

Highlights of The al-Sabah Collection

Explore The Jeweled Arts of India


Dagger Hilt, Locket and Chape
Dagger Hilt
LNS 256 Has-c
Carved from rock crystal; inlaid with gold and set with rubies, emeralds and banded agate
Length of hilt 130 mm
India, Mughal, later 16th-1st decade 17th century AD (with later alterations and additions)
Photography by Edward Owen

Inlaid Hardstones

Hardstone objects inlaid with precious metal that predate the 12th century are unknown. This gap is particularly remarkable, given the ancient background of both hardstone carving and of metal objects inlaid with precious metals, such as gold and silver. It is not surprising, however, that the development of hardstone inlay took place in the Islamic world, with its rich and sophisticated decorative traditions or that it was in the Indian subcontinent that the art form was perfected, given the region's legendary traditions of hardstone carving and its rich repertoire of jewelry arts. Here it was especially the kundan (room-temperature gold-fusion) technique that enabled India's artists to materialize their visions and bequeath an enormous body of work of unparalleled distinction.

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