A RARE GEM-SET AND GREEN-ENAMELLED BAZUBAND, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1900

Gifted by Asaf Jah VI Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad (1866-1911).

The use of peridot in Indian jewellery is unusual, but it is reputed to have been one of the Nizam's favourite stones (Balakrishnan 2001, p.151). Peridot, with its characteristic greenish-yellow tinge, was described by the Ancient Egyptians as “gem of the sun”. The present example was most probably sourced in Burma and sent to Hyderabad to be set along with other special commissions for the Nizam and his family (see Balakrishnan and Sadisharan 2018, pp.149-150 for a picture of two young girls wearing period and diamond set bazubands). A further feature which is particularly rare is the overall green enamelling on the reverse, unlike the more common polychrome enamelling.