ARTS OF INDIA

The complex and dominant technique of resist- and
mordant-dyeing on cotton seems to be the preferred
technique of producing textiles for the court in the
Deccan sultanates. The technique was perfected along
the Coromandel Coast, and places such as Golconda,
Burhanpur and Sironj are known to have produced high
quality chintzes. Other centres produced textiles for the
Mughal court such as Agra, Multan and Masulipatam.
For another tent panel with foral sprays rising from a
baluster vase, attributed to Burhanpur in the Deccan,
and dated to about 1700, see John Irwin and Katharine
B. Brett, Origins of Chintz, London, 1970. Fig. 22, p.33.
The baluster vase with two leafy handles, decorated with
arabesques and flled with fowers is a common Deccani
motif from the 17th and early 18th century. See for
instance an album page with découpe vase, circa 1630-
40, or lacquer book covers, circa 1700, both attributed
to Bijapur or Golconda, or the wall paintings of the Asar
Mahal in Bijapur, dated 1647 and in the interior of the
Kharbuza Mahal in Burhanpur, circa 1632 (Navina Najat
Haidar, Marika Sardar, Sultans of Deccan India, 1500-
1700, New York, 2015, fg.51, p. 1320 and cat.54 and 58,
pp.132 and 138).
Originally this piece would have been arranged as a
square or octagonal canopy. It was probably rearranged
as a long rectangular panel in the 20th century.
15
AN IMPERIAL CARVED MARBLE JALI
MUGHAL INDIA, PERIOD OF SHAH JAHAN,
CIRCA 1625-50
Of rectangular form, with open work lobed arch, the
spandrels with iris fowers, within rectangular frame,
on stand
61Ω x 28in. (156.4 x71.2cm.)
£8,000-12,000 $12,000-17,000
€10,000-15,000
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, London, acquired before 1994
This jali screen is of exquisite quality and represents
the Mughal style at its peak. It relates to the renowned
carved and openwork marble screen decorating the
Khas Mahal at the Red Fort in Delhi which was built
for Shah Jahan between 1639 and 1648.