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Pen Box, Tray and Cover thumbnail 2
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Pen Box, Tray and Cover

c. 1800-1850 (made)
Place of origin

This pen box has been very expertly fashioned and is constructed from a number of different materials and many hundreds of components. It was made within the Mughal empire, perhaps in the first half of the 19th century.
The white nephrite jade body has been fashioned in two pieces, with the sides and suspended, internal partition walls being fashioned as a single piece which has then been cemented to a second piece forming the base and four short legs which in turn attach to small, green nephrite feet via internal round pegs. The main, internal partition walls have small protrusions to allow the tray to rest suspended above the floor of the box, and the rim has been stepped to give a raised inner rim to locate and secure the cover in place. The outside walls have been set with pierced openwork green nephrite panels carved with grapes and vine leaves. Between the green openwork and the white nephrite walls is a thin layer of a white material that has fine layers of differing translucency and is most probably a thin sheet of the non-nacreous shell of the giant clam. The openwork panels lie between upper and lower borders of the white nephrite body which have been given a concave contour. These borders originally had 226 rubies of which one is now missing, each one individually fashioned to lie flush with the border. The rubies have been set into mirrored gold settings. There is evidence of repaired damage, particularly to one end.
The tray has been fashioned from a single piece of a white saccharoidal material, most probably alabaster (gypsum), and it has a longitudinal partition wall down the middle with the ends of each section having a short, decoratively scalloped and engraved covering.
The body of the cover has also been fashioned from a single piece of white nephrite. It is slightly domed, recessed inside and, apart from an octagonal ridge approximately half-way in from the edge, plain and polished. The top, exterior surface has been recessed to give a central area and an outer band, separated by a raised border of the white nephrite body, and there is a similar border around the edge. The two recessed areas have been inset with pierced openwork fashioned in green nephrite that has been carved in the form of bunches of grapes and vine leaves. Sandwiched between the green openwork and the white nephrite body is the same thin sheet of a white material as found on the box. The central area's openwork also has two pairs of carved flowers with the outer one at each end being set with a round, flat-topped diamond in a mirrored setting. The inner white border have been inset with 90 oval, flat-topped rubies in mirrored, gold settings that sit flush with the nephrite border, the outer white border has been similarly set with 112 shield-shaped, flat-topped rubies and the outer vertical edge has been inset with 112 quatrefoil-shaped, flat topped emeralds.
It was bequeathed to the museum by Arthur Wells, a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Pen Box
  • Cover
  • Tray
Materials and techniques
Nephrite, ruby, emerald, diamond, gold and alabaster. Fashioned, carved and polished using abrasives and abrasive-charged tools, and employing a number of varied techniques.
Brief description
Pen box, tray and cover, elongated, green nephrite openwork, white nephrite body, white alabaster (most probably) tray, inset gems, Mughal empire
Physical description
A pen/writing box and cover of elongated octagonal form and a removable, elongated rectangular tray.
The box's white nephrite jade body has been fashioned in two pieces, with the sides and suspended, internal partition walls being fashioned as a single piece which has then been cemented to a second piece forming the base and four short legs which in turn attach to small, green nephrite feet via internal round pegs. The main, internal partition walls have small protrusions to allow the tray to rest suspended above the floor of the box, and the rim has been stepped to give a raised inner rim to locate and secure the cover in place. The outside walls have been set with pierced openwork fashioned in green nephrite that has been carved in the form of bunches of grapes and vine leaves. Sandwiched between the green openwork and the white nephrite walls is a thin layer of a white material that has fine layers of differing translucency and is most probably a thin sheet of the non-nacreous shell of the giant clam. The openwork panels lie between upper and lower borders of the white nephrite body which have been given a concave contour. These borders have been inset with 225 of 226 rubies (one is missing due to damage) that have been individually fashioned to lie flush with the border. The rubies have been set into mirrored gold settings. There is evidence of repaired damage, particularly to one end.
The tray has been fashioned from a single piece of a white saccharoidal material, most probably alabaster (gypsum), and it has a longitudinal partition wall down the middle with the ends of each section having a short, decoratively scalloped and engraved covering.
The body of the cover has been fashioned as a single piece in white nephrite. The cover is very slightly domed, recessed inside and, apart from an octagonal ridge approximately half-way in from the edge, it is plain and polished. The top, exterior surface has been recessed to give a central area and an outer band, separated by a raised border of the white nephrite body, and there is a similar border around the edge. The two recessed areas have been inset with pierced openwork fashioned in green nephrite that has been carved in the form of bunches of grapes and vine leaves. Sandwiched between the green openwork and the white nephrite body is a thin sheet of a white material with very fine, near-parallel lines or layers of slightly differing translucency and lustre which appear in patches where their direction is different to that in adjacent areas, and this material is most probably the non-nacreous shell of the giant clam. The central area's openwork also has two pairs of carved flowers with the outer one at each end being set with a round, flat-topped diamond in a mirrored setting. The inner white border have been inset with 90 oval, flat-topped rubies in mirrored, gold settings that sit flush with the nephrite border, the outer white border has been similarly set with 112 shield-shaped, flat-topped rubies and the outer vertical edge has been inset with 112 quatrefoil-shaped, flat topped emeralds. There is evidence of some damage to the openwork and a small piece is missing.
Dimensions
  • 1672 1 1882 length: 279.5mm (+/- 0.5) (Note: Length at the rim)
  • 1672 1 1882 width: 102.5mm (+/- 0.5)
  • 1672 1 1882 height: 61.0mm (+/- 0.5)
  • 1672 1 1882 depth: 42.5mm (Note: Depth from the rim, at the centre)
  • 1672 2 1882 length: 279.5mm (+/- 0.5)
  • 1672 2 1882 width: 102.4mm
  • 1672 2 1882 height: 13.5mm
  • 1672 3 1882 length: 203.5mm (+/- 0.5)
  • 1672 3 1882 width: 85.1mm (+/- 0.2)
  • 1672 3 1882 height: 23.3 to 24.0mm
  • 1672 3 1882 depth: 21.5 to 22.5mm (Note: Depth from the rim)
  • Height: 72.5mm (Note: Overall height of box and cover)
Credit line
Wells Bequest
Object history
This pen box was fashioned in India and was acquired by Arthur Wells who was a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882. This collection was left to the museum in his will - the Wells Bequest.
Summary
This pen box has been very expertly fashioned and is constructed from a number of different materials and many hundreds of components. It was made within the Mughal empire, perhaps in the first half of the 19th century.
The white nephrite jade body has been fashioned in two pieces, with the sides and suspended, internal partition walls being fashioned as a single piece which has then been cemented to a second piece forming the base and four short legs which in turn attach to small, green nephrite feet via internal round pegs. The main, internal partition walls have small protrusions to allow the tray to rest suspended above the floor of the box, and the rim has been stepped to give a raised inner rim to locate and secure the cover in place. The outside walls have been set with pierced openwork green nephrite panels carved with grapes and vine leaves. Between the green openwork and the white nephrite walls is a thin layer of a white material that has fine layers of differing translucency and is most probably a thin sheet of the non-nacreous shell of the giant clam. The openwork panels lie between upper and lower borders of the white nephrite body which have been given a concave contour. These borders originally had 226 rubies of which one is now missing, each one individually fashioned to lie flush with the border. The rubies have been set into mirrored gold settings. There is evidence of repaired damage, particularly to one end.
The tray has been fashioned from a single piece of a white saccharoidal material, most probably alabaster (gypsum), and it has a longitudinal partition wall down the middle with the ends of each section having a short, decoratively scalloped and engraved covering.
The body of the cover has also been fashioned from a single piece of white nephrite. It is slightly domed, recessed inside and, apart from an octagonal ridge approximately half-way in from the edge, plain and polished. The top, exterior surface has been recessed to give a central area and an outer band, separated by a raised border of the white nephrite body, and there is a similar border around the edge. The two recessed areas have been inset with pierced openwork fashioned in green nephrite that has been carved in the form of bunches of grapes and vine leaves. Sandwiched between the green openwork and the white nephrite body is the same thin sheet of a white material as found on the box. The central area's openwork also has two pairs of carved flowers with the outer one at each end being set with a round, flat-topped diamond in a mirrored setting. The inner white border have been inset with 90 oval, flat-topped rubies in mirrored, gold settings that sit flush with the nephrite border, the outer white border has been similarly set with 112 shield-shaped, flat-topped rubies and the outer vertical edge has been inset with 112 quatrefoil-shaped, flat topped emeralds.
It was bequeathed to the museum by Arthur Wells, a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882.
Collection
Accession number
1672:1 to 3-1882

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
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