The
opulent decorative arts of India from the 16th to the mid-19th
century represent the height of luxury and conspicuous
consumption. Ornament embellishes almost every surface of these
objects, even the normally invisible backs of jewelry and the
bottoms of vessels. Made from precious materials by technically
skilled artists, these works enhanced the prestige of their
owners and gave aesthetic pleasure to all those who saw them.
The
most elegant Indian objects of this period were created for the
Mughals, a Muslim dynasty that ruled large parts of the
subcontinent from 1526 to 1858. The refined works produced in
the Mughal studios were admired by the Rajputs, Hindu rulers
from Ajastan, Punjab Hills, and central India who served as
vassals of the Mughals. Like their imperial masters, the Rajputs
sponsored their own workshops but preferred objects that mixed
Mughal and indigenous Indian elements.
Extravagant Mughal and Rajput decorative arts are displayed in
this gallery. Liberated from pompous notions of “good taste,”
these dazzling objects were deliberately intended to overwhelm,
delight, and entertain. They are the epitome of the term “luxury
objects.”
