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Adding photos of the side and back, which are also enameled.
Another great - and very interesting - piece, Lynn. And it is very gratifying to think that most likely it is Sindhi - in view of what I know of the enamelled armbands from the Sindh Valley that makes perfect sense to me.
Wonderful, Lynn, to see and know how many recent discoveries you have recently either made or been involved in!! I am thinking of the way you worked out what Priti Chaudhari's necklace was (Armenian), for example. I must admit that my inclination, like that of some others, was to see it as Uzbeki ... But you just cannot be dogmatic about such guesses until there is really hard evidence, and you certainly provided that.
I have owned one and seen many others and always tought about them as Persian at least from what they were advertised for on Internet and various reference books.
It is great to pin them down on the map, i shall however note that the bails/loops/suspension elements or whatever they may be called are very much Persian and have seen them extensively used on a variety of artefacts from Persia, last of which a comprehnsive and large collection of seals i had recently acquired.
Of course the enamel here should be the leading determining aspect especially if it has been identified as Sindhi while the suspension elements could very well be a mere technical detail that was more common across the whole subregion, especially given historical ties and facts.
And a further side note is the existence of a very shallow and brilliant enamel used in Iran (still used) which main shades are blue and sometimes green also.
The most common of the artefacts on which it was applied and still is are the incorrectly labelled "Qajar" silver framed mirrors. Also do exist some hookaus accessories showcasing the same enamel work.
Most of the time the identification is Persian so it seems the same technique was also used in Persia/Iran unless the references are also mistaken (not for the mirrors though for i hace seen them on offer in iran myself) in which case a Sindh relabelling should be undertaken.
A very lovely nice little box. I love all these kind of old boxes and containers....No matter how ornamented they are, i find myself being more excited by what was/is potentially inside!
Dear Joost and Alaa, thank you for your kind comments. Pro Sindhi evidence is the dull purple in the enamel paired with the brilliant and transparent blue and green. That combination appeared on a number of the Sindhi bracelets/anklets shown on FB and appears quite unusual. Pro Persian evidence is the fine detailing on this piece which is truly tiny and wonderful and not appearing on the same Sindhi jewels. Having seen this dull purple/brilliant blue&green enamel combo only on Sindhi, I am leaning there. But Alaa if you have any examples handy of Persian enameling like this I would be very interested in seeing it!
Lynn, - As you know, Truus and I have a pair of Sindhi enamelled anklets/bracelets of the kind you mention, including the purple areas. I should like to add to the discussion that in our decision to describe them as Sindhi, the structure of the objects was the guiding factor. We became aware, through discussion here, of "plain" (not enamelled) pieces with this shape, and that seemed to us more important than the enamelling, although I must say that the "all-green" Pastorino/Levenberg pair seemed very much *not* to show "Multan" enamelling: that fact helped to identify our ornaments as Sindhi. I would stress that to my mind the form is inherently more important than the enamelling, unless, of course, it is CERTAIN that the enamelling here could only have been done in the Sindh Valley. In that case the form would, in essence, probably have been imitated there (in the SV) from a Persian example, if I understand Alaa correctly. If the enamelling could also have been done in Persia, I'd certainly veer towards seeing the pieces as Persian on structural grounds, from what Alaa says.
During a discussion on Facebook on enamelling centres and techniques, Akkie Hetjes raised an interesting question on Lucknow enamelling. I have previously not paid much attention to enamelling from that area, but think that Lucknow may be yet another piece of the puzzle.
For instance, there are similarities of enamelling in this hookah base sold by Michael Backman and the patterns on the amulet box. More information on Michael Backman’s site: http://www.asianart.com/backman/3.html
Well this is exactely what i was referring to as hookah parts beings labelled as Persian elsewhere....so it is from Lucknow. Very thrilling.
If any Persian connection has occurred in the past on the technique level then no wonders it have been preserved in a city like lucknow....
I am totally shifting to Lucknow as a possible identification for these bazubands especially given the anthropological facts that thus city is one of the centers of shiaa islam in the subcontinent and bazubands are eminently shia artefacts.
Preethi and Alaa: excellent posts! I am totally with you in your focusing on this Lucknow evidence and in your thinking about it. And I add that the resemblance between the Backman piece which Preethi shows and your bazuband, Lynn, seems to me much greater than the resemblance that either of these two objects bear to the bracelets/anklets that Truus and I own. The overall aesthetic of the two pieces seems remarkably similar, with both of them pointing away from the anklets. I feel that the mere fact that these two pieces "lack" the purple is not enough reason to place your piece in the Sindh Valley - presumably the purple did in fact get used in more than one place, which would be nothing surprising, given the interconnections between the cultures we are looking at.
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