A FINE MUGHAL CARVED AMETHYST NECKLACE WITH GOLD BEADS, 19TH CENTURY, INDIA

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A MUGHAL FACETED AMETHYST AND GOLD BEAD NECKLACE, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY Strung as a graduated single strand of faceted amethyst rondelles, the beads rising in size from the terminals toward the centre, each separated by a small fluted gold spacer bead. The amethysts are of a clear violet tone, evenly matched in colour, and cut with multiple facets around the girdle that catch the light across the curved surface of each bead. The strand is finished at both ends with a plaited yellow silk cord, drawn through a sliding cylindrical bead adjuster and terminating in a full silk tassel bound at the neck. The faceted rondelle form belongs to a distinctly Indian tradition of hardstone bead cutting, in which coloured stones were shaped and polished with multiple flat faces rather than left as smooth cabochons or rounded beads. The technique allowed the internal colour of the stone to be read through the crown while returning light from the girdle, and it was applied across the full range of stones favoured at the Mughal and post-Mughal courts, including emerald, spinel, ruby, and amethyst. The gold spacers, fluted along their length, are of a type long produced in the north Indian jewellery workshops, and the silk adjuster cord with tassel is the standard finish for court and courtly-style necklaces of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, allowing the strand to be worn at variable lengths without a metal clasp. Amethyst held a particular place in Indian lapidary practice. Sourced principally from the Deccan and from further afield through established gem-trading networks, it was valued both for its saturated violet colour, associated in Hindu and later syncretic traditions with clarity of mind and restraint, and for its ready availability in sizes large enough to yield substantial faceted beads. Within the Mughal successor courts of the nineteenth century, strands of matched faceted amethyst were worn by men and women alike, and formed part of the wider culture of stone-strung ornament that persisted long after the political fragmentation of the empire. This necklace exemplifies the continuity of Mughal jewellery practice into the nineteenth century, when the courtly conventions of faceted hardstone beads, fluted gold spacers, and silk tassel closures were sustained in the workshops of northern India well beyond the imperial period. The graduation of the strand and the evenness of colour across the beads mark it as a considered assembly rather than a casual grouping of stones. Dimensions: Diameter 26 cm

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