Adornment and Splendour

Adornment and Splendour is the definitive catalogue of an unparalleled collection of Indian jewellery and luxury objects made at the height of the Mughal empire and the Deccan sultanates. This collection, widely regarded as one of the finest in the world, was assembled by Sheikh Nasser and Sheikha Hussa al-Sabah for The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, and reveals the beauty, sophistication and diversity of Indian jewelled arts.

The Indian subcontinent is naturally rich in gems. From ancient times, master jewellers have developed a wide array of unique techniques, making it home to the most sophisticated jewels on earth. Exotic birds, animals, flowers, trees and mythological scenes rendered in precious gemstones, gold and enamel demonstrate these artists' prodigious imagination and skill. They produced not only an unmatched range of jewellery to adorn the body but also ritual and household items of astonishing refinement and luxury, as well as extravagantly large engraved gemstones to serve as symbols of their princely patrons' royal power—including a spinel of nearly 250 carats believed to be the legendary Timur Ruby.

This volume includes not only the finest and most valuable pieces in the collection—some familiar to connoisseurs, others published here for the first time—but also many previously unknown types that extend our understanding of artistic output in the region. With specially commissioned photography providing unprecedented new views of more than 300 jewelled objects, this is a publication of historic importance and beauty, for all lovers of jewellery, the arts of India and of the Islamic world.