Hong Kong Palace Museum | The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Treasures of the Mughal Court from the Victoria and Albert Museum

In Persian culture, hoopoes, the birds depicted, symbolise the archetype of royal wisdom – Sulyamen (King Solomon), whom Mughal emperors admired and often compared themselves with. The back of the pendant is inscribed with a verse from the Qu’ran. Intricate details adorn the piece, with the birds’ eyes made of tiny emeralds set in gold using the kundan technique. The presence of the hoopoes and the exceptional quality of the precious stones set in rare jade suggest that Emperor Jahangir may have worn this pendant.

This dagger and its scabbard, adorned with over 2,000 gemstones, exemplify the finest craftsmanship and masterful kundan technique of Jahangir’s reign and was probably made as a ceremonial gift presented to or by the emperor. It reflects the close collaboration among workshops responsible for gemstone cutting, gemstones setting, and metalworking in the Mughal court.

These two paintings are from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), which was commissioned by Emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. The V&A’s partial copy of this manuscript contains illustrations by more than fifty artists who worked in court workshops collaboratively. This double-page illustration depicts Akbar being entertained by his foster brother Azim Khan at Dipalpur in 1571. The names of four different artists are recorded in Persian in the lower margins. Akbar, seated on a throne inside the tent, occupies the central stage of the right painting, and the hexagonal throne is the emblem of his royalty. The West Asian shapes of the metal cups, dishes, and ewers used in the ceremony reflect the presence of Iranian metalworkers in the Mughal workshops.

This painting depicts Emperor Jahangir in a garden with his courtiers receiving his second son, Prince Parviz (1589–1626), and the Persian inscriptions on their clothing record their names. The wine cup held by the emperor, along with the dagger carried by the servant behind Jahangir, are similar to items displayed in this section. Hindu artist Manohar (active 1582–1624) was the son of Basawan (active 1580–1600), who studied under the Iranian master painters and became a key figure in Mughal court painting.

Emperor Shah Jahan had a great passion for gemstones, leading to the acquisition of many precious stones during his reign. This is a portrait of Shah Jahan, painted by his court artist Muhammad Abid in the first year of his reign. It depicts the emperor adorned with necklaces, bracelets, armlets, and turban jewels made of large pearls, spinels, and other gemstones, while he holds a large emerald in his left hand. The port city of Goa, on the western coast of the Indian peninsula, was under the Portuguese control and served as a centre for the global gem trade, including the import of Columbian emeralds by Portuguese merchants.