Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c16.5

c16.5

Magnificent though the Mughal palace was when Shah Jahan was in his prime, as the painting of the time definitely proves, the building itself served merely as the casket for a most precious jewel which was contained therein. The casket still remains, but the jewel, represented by one of the most valuable works of art ever constructed, namely, the famous Peacock Throne, has disappeared. This throne on which the emperor sat in state in his palace of splendour was emblematic of his majesty and pride, while, as a contrast to this picture, the vacant place at the present time in the empty marble pavilion where it used to stand guarded night and day by armed eunuchs shows how the glory of the dynasty has faded away like a dream. Careful descriptions of the Peacock Throne, by experts who saw it, have, however, been preserved, while, what is even more important, accurate copies of it appear in several pictures of the period. A miniature depicting this ornate article of state is reproduced on Plate XXV, and shows Shah Jahan occupying it as a comparatively young man, probably not long after he had been proclaimed emperor in 1628. Early in his reign the throne was not such an elaborate piece of furniture as that so minutely recorded by Tavernier, who made his inspection in 1655, for some time between these dates twelve golden pillars encrusted with precious stones were introduced to support the canopy, and several other expensive structural features added. But in many respects the picture here presented tallies with the French jeweller’s account. It depicts the canopy ‘ covered with diamonds and pearls, with a fringe of pearls all around ’; the artist has also included the ‘ quadrangular-shaped dome ’, on which ‘ is to be seen a peacock with elevated tail made of blue sapphires and other coloured stones, the body being of gold inlaid with precious stones, having a large ruby in front of the breast, from whence hangs a pear-shaped pearl of 50 carats or thereabouts, and of a somewhat yellow water ’. It must be admitted that the picture shows two peacocks, instead of one, but it is not unlikely that the artist’s drawing is the more correct. The peacocks stand with spreading tails, and are painted a deep blue, with a pearl hanging from the breast of each, as described by Tavernier,² who valued the whole at six million pounds sterling. Bernier, who saw the throne about the same time, adds an interesting note regarding its design. It was ‘ made by a workman of astonishing powers, a Frenchman by birth ’ (subsequently identified as an individual of the name of La Grange), ‘who, after defrauding several of the Princes of Europe, by means of false gems, which he fabricated with peculiar skill, sought refuge in the Great Mogol’s court, where he made his fortune’.