Christie’s will present Magnificent Mughal Jewels: Property from a Royal Collection, a group of three historic jewels with royal provenance, alongside its Magnificent Jewels auction in New York on 17 June.
The collection is led by a Mughal carved emerald necklace comprising five Colombian emeralds with an approximate total weight of 1,150 carats. It centres on a 470-carat emerald inscribed with the name of Ahmad Shah Durr-i Durran, founder of the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan and northwest India. The same inscription appears on two of the most storied gems in history, the Timur Ruby and the Koh-i-Noor diamond, both of which followed a parallel path through Mughal history from 1612 onward.
A second Mughal multi-gem and emerald necklace features four Colombian emeralds weighing nearly 800 carats. Fine large emeralds discovered in Colombia during the 16th and 17th centuries reached the courts of the Ottoman Turks, the Safavid Persians, and the Mughal Indians, who prized stones of this caliber and often set them as beads or worked them into gold.
The third piece is a Mughal three-strand spinel and natural pearl necklace with eight inscribed stones. Following the Mughal tradition of recording a gem’s provenance, the spinels bear the names of powerful historical figures, from Muhammad ibn Tughluq-Shah, Sultan of Delhi, to the first Mughal emperor Babur, and later the emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan. With an approximate total weight of more than 2,000 carats, they show the vivid color long favored by royalty.
Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s International Head of Jewelry, said the jewels represent the lapidary mastery and grandeur of Mughal India and a rare opportunity to acquire some of the most significant examples to come to auction. Offered from a royal collection, the seller’s proceeds are intended to benefit charitable causes.
(Press Release)
