Indian, Jaipur
Pair of Armlets (Bazubands), 19th century
Gold on a lac core, with precious and semi-precious stones, enamel decoration, and cords of silk and gold with seed pearls, 22.7 cm (8 15/16 in.)
These two Indian armlets, known as bazubands, worn on the upper arm, are made of gold on a lac core: a resinous secretion from the lac insect. Each armlet has eleven rectangular segments that are hinged together. Each segment is decorated with five precious and semi-precious stones, a large stone is embedded in the center and four smaller stones are fashioned to each corner. On either side, the armlet ends with a cone-shaped piece that is covered in seed pearls and tassels made of silk and gold thread. On the reverse side of the armlets, the segments feature painted blue and white birds with leaf motifs.
Little Salon
Commentary
These armlets include “nine sacred gems,” referencing the navaratna tradition of Indian jewelry, with each gem corresponding to the nine celestial objects, which in turn provide talismanic qualities to the wearer.
Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased these armlets from an antiques dealer in Calcutta, India, in 1884. They were purportedly owned by Zinat Mahal, the favorite wife of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, who was sent into exile after the failed Indian Mutiny (also called the Great Uprising) of 1857, whereby governing authority fully shifted to British Crown rule. The armlets were taken from King’s palace in Delhi during the time of the Mutiny by British soldiers. This problematic provenance did not trouble Gardner, who—though interested in the pre-colonial experience of people living on the subcontinent—did not seem to grasp the violence that had removed the armbands from their original owner.