Pen box and cover, Lahore, 19th century
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
19th century
Pen box and cover in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number 1627 to A-1852), made in Lahore, dated 19th century. The museum's brief description reads: Rectangular octagonal box and cover, brownish green nephrite jade, inset gold, rubies and emeralds, Lahore, 19th century. Museum description: A rectangular octagonal box, fashioned to a high standard in brownish green nephrite jade, inlaid with gold and set with rubies and emeralds in reflective, closed-back and possibly coloured settings. The box's body has been fashioned from a single piece of nephrite and the interior is smooth and well polished. The rim has a raised inner ring designed to enable the cover to be located and secured onto the box. The highly polished exterior walls have been carved and recessed then set with gold wire, 152 rubies and 48 emeralds in flower and foliage designs within fine, inlaid, rectangular borders of gold wire. Each edge between the sides is further decorated with two inlaid gold trefoils. The base is flat, smooth and polished. The cover's body has been fashioned from a single piece of nephrite and is domed and highly polished on all surfaces. There is a central, attached round finial, which is somewhat wobbly and it is inset with six pear-shaped ruby cabochons around the sides and with… The museum records it as Nephrite jade, ruby, emerald and gold. Fashioned using a variety of techniques., measuring Width 149.0 mm; Width 112.0 mm; Height 31.10 to 31.55 mm; Depth 27.5 mm; Thickness 4.2 mm; Length 149.0 mm; Width 112.2 mm; Height 37.7 mm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
This box was shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 at London's Crystal Palace and described then as 'modern' work from Lahore. The quality of the workmanship is reminiscent of objects produced during the Mughal empire in the 17th and 18th centuries, and employs the same techniques that would have been passed down from those craftsmen. Nephrite jade is a hard and durable material that requires time and patience to work, especially when fashioning larger objects from a single block. Furthermore, the external surfaces have been carved and engraved to produce cavities and channels into which gems and gold have been inlaid. Even today, using modern tools and abrasives, such work would take a skilled craftsman many hours to complete. Additionally, even though nephrite is a tough material, it becomes susceptible to damage from impacts or large and rapid changes in temperature when it has been worked to a fine thickness. Other than being an exercise in displaying the craftsmen's skills, such a object would only have been made for the most wealthy and important people.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- nephrite, ruby, emerald, gold, gold, emerald, ruby
- Dimensions
- Width 149.0 mm; Width 112.0 mm; Height 31.10 to 31.55 mm; Depth 27.5 mm; Thickness 4.2 mm; Length 149.0 mm; Width 112.2 mm; Height 37.7 mm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Nephrite jade, ruby, emerald and gold. Fashioned using a variety of techniques.
- Place recorded
- Lahore
Identification
- Museum object name
- Pen box and cover
- Museum object number
- 1627 to A-1852
- Museum system number
- O128486
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and catalogue references against a specialist reference.