AN ENAMELLED AND GEM SET MODEL OF A PARROT

Birds were considered a symbol of royalty at the Mughal court and at other provincial states in India. The Mughal Emperor Jahangir mentions being gifted a gem encrusted bird and Shah Jahan’s legendary peacock throne is thought to have had two jeweled peacocks on top of the canopy (Jaffer 2013, p.192). This gem-set and enameled parrot standing on a similarly decorated base is closely related to another known jewelled parrot (Beijing 2018, p.242, no.154). Both birds were probably made as a pair and were originally in the collection of the Nizams of Hyderabad. They were apparently part of a group of birds which were placed around the throne during durbar ceremonies (Paris 2017, p.190). Other comparable jeweled birds include the late 18th century huma bird from the canopy of Tipu Sultan’s throne, now in the Royal Collection, United Kingdom (RCIN 48482) and a large 17th century Mughal falcon in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (JE.69.2001; Tan, 2002, pp.8-15).