A carved rock crystal bowl, India, Mughal, circa 1700

During the seventeenth century, particularly during the reign of Shah Jahan (r.1628-58), flower motifs decorated an array of visual arts, often arranged in balanced compositions adorning textiles, objects and architecture. Artists similarly employed the motif in carved hardstone objects such as jades and rock crystal, as shown in the present lot (Welch 1985, p.256).

The carved, floral decoration of this bowl relates to several carved rock crystal or jade cups and bowls attributed to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A seventeenth century bowl with similar, although shallower lobes around the body is in the V&A (acc. no.986-1875). In that example, the division of the lobes is punctuated by the stems of the flowers. Here, the artist uses the centre of the upward pointing leaves, radiating from the flowerhead base. An eighteenth century cup in the V&A, London (acc. no.02611(IS)) shares a similar arrangement of floral stems flanked by leaves. The drawing of the flowers with delicate overturned leaves at the base of the stem are comparable to the carving of a jade cover also the V&A (acc. no.IS.39-1956).