Storage chest, wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl in black lacquer
This storage chest is the finest one that has been preserved of a fairly small group of pieces of furniture with mother-of-pearl inlays in lacquer. All come from Gujarat.
The lid is decorated with characteristic spiral ornamentation that helps us date it. An identical mother-of-pearl decoration is namely found on a canopy made in 1608-1609 for the grave of the Sufi sheikh Nizam al-Din Awliya, whose monument is in Delhi.
The chest was probably intended for the Ottoman market. The gilded metal fittings feature palmettes of the type favored in Turkey, and the chest’s feet have geometric ornaments that resemble Ottoman inlaying.
The lid is decorated with characteristic spiral ornamentation that helps us date it. An identical mother-of-pearl decoration is namely found on a canopy made in 1608-1609 for the grave of the Sufi sheikh Nizam al-Din Awliya, whose monument is in Delhi.
The chest was probably intended for the Ottoman market. The gilded metal fittings feature palmettes of the type favored in Turkey, and the chest’s feet have geometric ornaments that resemble Ottoman inlaying.