Jewelry Boxes For Women: Beautiful Pieces with a Touch of Indian Royalty
If you could go back in time, one of the things that would be worth seeing is the jewelry boxes for women of the Indian royal families. India’s history with jewel making is one of the oldest and dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization. At those times, gold earrings, necklaces as well as bracelets were already made.
In the jewel making history of the nation, the Mughal Empire was considered the most important. Believed to possess divine powers, the Maharaja was central to the functioning of the state. And that was why it was believed that only he was worthy of wearing a lot of jewelry.
The most popular of jewelry forms worn by the Maharaja was the Navratna (meaning nine gems). This was an amulet made of nine precious stones. Diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, cat’s eye, coral, and red zircon are the nine gems.
The diamond, the most powerful of stones is cut in many number of ways. Mughal Emperors gave a great deal of importance to diamonds. They believed it to be a road to immortality and even had their names and titles and carved.
These stones were used in the creation of rings, necklaces, amulets as well as to adorn turbans. The kings’ rings were inspired by European styles especially from the Renaissance period. Thumb rings with a common pattern of scrolling leaves on the inside were common.
This was a time when turban jewelry made a debut. The jewelry of Emperor Akbar was a mix of Iranian as well as European cultures. Kalghi or turban plumes made of gold threads and seen in Safavid paintings were created at that time.
Necklaces that the king wore were made of pearls, sometimes mixed with gold and other times with gold and even gemstones. When Jahangir came to power, using a heavy stone of pearl or ruby along with the plume came into fashion. Gold slippers were another thing the kings of those times used to wear.
Medieval accounts tell of kings from Tanjore who wore minimal clothing that was completely covered with jewels. The loin cloth worn by the King of Maabar had emeralds, rubies as well as sapphires. He even had a necklace created out of 104 pearls and which came all the way to his waist.
Many styles have come about thanks to the attention given to jewelry among Indian royalty. The Mughals brought about the Meenakari and Kundan styles. Royalty from the Nagas had jewelry designs that included human heads and funnel-like beads.
The trousseau of women in Indian royalty had jewelry as an important component. Women came to their husband’s palaces with jewelry boxes made of marble, lacquer, onyx etc, filled with their jewelry. Hand carvings, precious stones etc were used to enhance these jewelry boxes even further.
Up to now, jewelry has an important role in Indian cultures. It is essential to every auspicious occasion.
This article was written by Ruth D’Souza Prabhu of MarqART Gift Shop. Our jewelry boxes feature evocative wood art designs, created from unique wood grain patterns and colors. A fine addition to your dressing table or as a gift. Please visit http://www.marqartgiftshop.com to browse & buy exotic jewelry boxes that will give you a lifetime of pleasure!
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