About historic Indian jewelry
Over the last 5000 years one of the richest jewelry cultures in the world developed in India. Today, gold work from ancient India is one of the great rarities in international art collections and museums.
Only very few of these pieces have survived the times. Wars, pillage and foreign arrogance have caused the melting of almost all jewelry creations of past centuries despite the high artistic quality and wealth of forms. The great variety of handicrafts used to create these works is fascinating; many of the techniques are completely unknown to the Western world today.
An important factor for the stylistic development of ancient Indian jewelry was the Islamic conquest of Northern India from the 11th to the 14th century. In particular the Mogul Dynasty cultivated the Arts and elevated Indian Jewelry Art to its unique heights. It stands out through its abundance: gold and jewels on the front, high-quality enamel on the back - as in the case of royal jewelry from Northern India.
Each work of jewelry is an original unique piece which was never allowed to be duplicated. It was only made for its destined wearer at the royal courts. The symbolism of the jewelry refers to religious origins. Therefore the set gemstones are not cut as we are used to today. Jewelry meant more than only decoration or presentation of power and wealth - a completely contrary ideology to today's Western value systems.