#India in Fashion

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Nita Ambani on Her Spectacular New Arts Institution in Mumbai

Ensembles by Zandra Rhodes (left and center) and Jean Paul Gaultier (right) in the “Hippie Trail” section of the exhibition “India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textile on the Fashionable Imagination.” Courtesy of NMACC.

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@waydaminbrand | valentine’s day collection

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NMACC showcase: From beetle wings to chintz, India’s gift to global fashion

Special commissions from Rahul Mishra | Photo Credit: Mitsun Soni A little over 150 years ago, over 30,000 hand cut and mounted samples of Indian textiles were painstakingly organised into an album series to educate and inspire commercial and design industries in India and Britain. Its creator, John Forbes Watson, called them ‘trade museums’. Watson would have been pleased to walk around the…

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Emerald Spectacles from India, c. 1620-1660 CE: the lenses of these spectacles were cut from a single 300-carat emerald, and it was believed that they possessed mystical properties

These eyeglasses are also known by the name "Astaneh-e ferdaws," meaning "Gate of Paradise," based on the symbolic associations between the color green and the concept of spiritual salvation/Paradise. That symbolism (which is rooted in Islamic tradition) was especially popular in Mughal-era India, where the spectacles were made.

The lenses were crafted from two thin slices of the same emerald. Together, the lenses have a combined weight of about 27 carats, but given the precision, size, and shape of each lens, experts believe that the original emerald likely weighed in excess of 300 carats (more than sixty grams) before it was cleaved down in order to produce the lenses. The emerald was sourced from a mine in Muzo, Colombia, and it was then transported across the Atlantic by Spanish or Portuguese merchants.

Each lens is encircled by a series of rose-cut diamonds, which run along an ornate frame made of gold and silver. The diamond-studded frame was added in the 1890s, when the original prince-nez design was fitted with more modern frames.

The emerald eyeglasses have long been paired with a second set of spectacles, and they were almost certainly commissioned by the same patron. This second pair is known as "Halqeh-e nur," or the "Halo of Light."

The Halo of Light features lenses that were made from slices of diamond. The diamond lenses were cleaved from a single stone, just like the emerald lenses, with the diamond itself being sourced from a mine in Southern India. It's estimated that the original, uncut diamond would have weighed about 200-300 carats, which would make it one of the largest uncut diamonds ever found.

The lenses are so clear and so smoothly cut that it sometimes looks like they're not even there.

Both sets of spectacles date back to the mid-1600s, and it's generally believed that they were commissioned by a Mughal emperor or prince. The identity of that person is still a bit of a mystery, but it has been widely speculated that the patron was Shah Jahan -- the Mughal ruler who famously commissioned the Taj Mahal after the death of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan did rule as the Mughal emperor from about 1628 to 1658.

The emerald and diamond lenses may have been chosen for symbolic, sentimental, and/or cultural reasons, or they may have been chosen simply because they're pretty and extravagant; the original meaning and purpose behind the design is still unclear. Experts do believe that the eyeglasses were designed to be worn by someone, though.

At times, it was believed that the spectacles had spiritual properties, like the ability to promote healing, to ward off evil, to impart wisdom, and to bring the wearer closer to enlightenment. Those beliefs are largely based on the spiritual significance that emeralds and diamonds can have within certain Indic and Islamic traditions -- emeralds may be viewed as an emblem of Paradise, salvation, healing, cleansing, and eternal life, while diamonds are similarly associated with enlightenment, wisdom, celestial light, and mysticism.

The Gate of Paradise and the Halo of Light were both kept in the collections of a wealthy Indian family until 1980, when they were sold to private collectors, and they were then put up for auction once again in 2021. They were most recently valued at about $2 million to $3.4 million per pair.

Sources & More Info:

Sotheby's: Mughal Spectacles

Architectural Digest of India: At Sotheby's auction, Mughal-era eyeglasses made of diamond and emerald create a stir

Only Natural Diamonds: Auspicious Sight & the Halqeh-e Nur Spectacles

The Royal Society Publishing: Cleaving the Halqeh-Ye Nur Diamonds

Gemological Institution of America: Two Antique Mughal Spectacles with Gemstone Lenses

Manuscript: From Satan's Crown to the Holy Grail: emeralds in myth, magic, and history

CNN: The $3.5 million Spectacles Said to Ward off Evil

BBC: Rare Mughal Era Spectacles to be Auctioned by Sotheby's

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Marathi woman, India, by Fotocaters Photography

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India Love for Savage X Fenty

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Sari de Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Exposition Bollywood superstars, musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris

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IG ; jaydacheaves | body tea

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‘India in Fashion’ at NMACC helps define the country’s varied sources of global influence: Rooshad Shroff

Mumbai-based architect and designer Rooshad Shroff, who was the affiliate designer of India in Fashion discusses lighting challenges, documentation and exhibition design. Edited excerpts: Rooshad Shroff The exhibition has been imagined as curatorial chapters. Was there any section that was troublesome to execute technically, given the interaction of areas versus curatorial? Actually, it being…

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Sacred Light Arrow 💫

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India Love via Instagram 💋.

Gifs by me ⭐️.

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Wentke (Gown)

Mid 18th Century

The Netherlands

Women in Hindeloopen, a town in the northern Netherlandish province of Friesland, traditionally wore this type of striking lightweight coat, called a wentke, on special occasions. Beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, wentkes were usually made of boldly patterned Indian chintzes, and contrary to the custom in the rest of Europe of confining chintz to casual and private occasions, residents of Hindeloopen elevated this exotic fabric to a formal status. The wentke was often worn with other garments of Indian cotton. (The MET)

Peabody Essex Museum (Object Number: 2012.22.15)