POSSIBLY BIKANER, RAJASTHAN, CIRCA 1900

Among the most impressive types of Indian jewellery are the large and complicated Arya necklaces. The most complex, like ours, have three distinct 'layers': a rigid collar, above a dense mesh of small diamond mounts, and a fringe below. An example published by Oppi Untracht, then with Naulakha jewelers in Delhi, is described by her as a 'masterpiece of Indian goldsmith's achievement' (Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, London, 1997, p.33). Ours differs from that example in the inclusion of emeralds as well as diamonds. A further example in the Khalili Collection retains the original 'cushions' with an elaborate mesh of green glass beads and small pearls (Pedro Mourha Carvalho, Gems and Jewels of Mughal India, Oxford, 2010, p.236, no.132).