Mango-Shaped Flask

Unknown

mid-17th century · Rock crystal; set with gold, enamel, rubies, and emeralds · Islamic Art

In spite of its modest size, this flask in the shape of a mango, adorned with gold, gems, and enameling, eloquently demonstrates the artistic standards and tastes of seventeenth-century Mughal India. Likely to have been created during the reign of Shah Jahan, the emperor who built the famous Taj Mahal, the flask expresses the Mughal love of natural forms and precious materials. The finely balanced, elegantly drawn, and relatively spacious network of scrolling vines in gold, inset with gemstones, recalls the Mughal debt to Safavid Iran, where similar networks of scrolling vines with palmettes, blossoms, and leaves were in vogue in the sixteenth century.

Artist

Unknown

Date

mid-17th century

Medium

Rock crystal; set with gold, enamel, rubies, and emeralds

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Purchase, Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, 1993