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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c22.s4: Gems, Inlays and Intaglios

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c22.s4

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Gems, Inlays and Intaglios

v1.c22.s4.1

Marshall admits (chapter 30, p. 619) that although the art of granulation and filigree was a Western one, "it is certain that the art of incrusting jewellery and other objects with gems was of Eastern origin, and that it was rarely practised in the Mediterranean area before the conquests of Alexander opened up the Orient". The art originated in India itself. The Indian king Sopeithes (Saubhuti) is said to have worn golden sandals studded with jewels and to have carried a golden staff studded with beryls, (Q. Curtius, Hist. Alex IX.1.5) The pavilions of Indian kings are said to have been bejewelled. (Claudian, Stilicho 1, 158 — quoted by Marshall)

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There are other evidences that the art of incrusting jewellery with gems was well-known in India before Alexander invaded the sub-continent. The Buddhist text Mahāvagga (V.8.3) and Cullavagga (V.9.1) forbade the monks to use shoes and bowels (made of gold and silver) studded with gems like beryl, crystals or pearl. The Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya mentioned (2.13.33 and 38) Kāñcanakāru and Kācārpaṇa, i.e., setting of gems in gold.

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Marshall opines that although the art of incrustation might have originated in India, the jewelleries in Taxila during the first century AD had distinct Pārthian style and characteristics. The semi-precious stones used in jewellery at Taxila were: carnelian or sard, chalcedony, agate, onyx, garnet, jasper, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, turquoise, turquoise paste, black marble and white orthoclase feldspar.

v1.c22.s4.4

Gems were inlaid in ornaments such as necklaces, pendants, bracelets and finger rings. When inlaid, the pieces were cut to shape and cemented in cells formed by strips of metal soldered to a background. The surface of the inlay was generally cut flush with the top edge of the cell; sometimes when the cells were not contiguous, the inlay was cut en cabochon to rise above the cell, the latter turned inwards at the top to hold the inlay securely. This method was frequently adopted in ring bezels.

v1.c22.s4.5

In necklaces, bracelets finger rings, gemstones of bright colours were inlaid by cementing with lac, amber and paste. In necklaces with pendants, white feldspar, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, turquoise etc., surrounded by gold granules, were inlaid. Some of them were also inlaid en cabochon either with garnet or blue turquoise. Bracelets of gold consisted of open work type with square ‘gate’ clasps encrusted with gems such as white orthoclase feldspar and circular settings with amber.

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Finger rings of gold from Sirkap were also inlaid with gems. The rings had hoops with flat raised bezels and were inlaid with specific gems such as lapis lazuli, malachite, rock crystal, garnet, carnelian, jacinth and a grey-brown chert. The lapis lazuli ring was found in the second century BC stratum; most others were made during the first century AD.

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The spurt in jewelleries and gem incrustations in the area came after Alexander’s invasion which indirectly influenced a synthesis of the Greek, Pārthian and Indian arts. No gold finger-ring of any kind has been found in the Bhir Mound, and no ring of any metal inset with a stone or paste. This tradition started only in the second century BC Greek establishment at Sirkap. The Edwin Jack collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston contain third-second century BC Greek artefacts — ear-rings, bangles and snake bracelets made of gold and inset garnet/agate/lapis lazuli or emerald, the like of which was not known in Greece before Alexander. Emerald must have come from the Egyptian mines and gradually gained popularity in India as the celebrated marakata.

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Intaglios have designs cut or engraved in a hard stone or metal, depicting scenes, portraits etc. The early ones at Sirkap belong to the Pārthian period and the rest are datable to the fourth-fifth century AD. They are cut *en cabochon* in stones such as malachite, jacinth, carnelian and chert as well as in glass.

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One of the best executed intaglios depicts a warrior with shield and spear on a lapis lazuli bezel, which dates around second-first century BC. On another intaglio, there is an Indian version of Heracles in the guise of Śiva, holding the lion-skin in one hand and a bow or snake in the other. While most of the motifs are Graeco-Roman, some are distinctly Indian, e.g., *nandīpada*, *swastika*, etc. Clearly, there was a fusion of different traditions of art culture in the Sirkap inhabitation.

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