- 107
TWO TURBAN ORNAMENTS (SARPECH), MUGHAL OR RAJPUT, 18TH CENTURY
Estimate
600 - 800 GBP
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Description
- Feathers from an Impeyan Pheasant
- 5 inches
Each composed of a group of feathers from an Impeyan pheasant
Exhibited
India, Art and Culture 1300-1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985
Literature
Welch 1985, p.277, no.184.
Catalogue Note
The Impeyan pheasant was named after Mary, Lady Impey, the wife of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta. From 1774 to 1782, she commissioned at least three Indian painters to produce large-scale depictions of birds, animals, insects and flowers (Archer 1962, p.54). The Impeyan pheasant is found high in the Himalayas from Afghanistan across to Tibet and Bhutan, its vivid colouring making its feathers an irresistible source for princely adornments.