Inspiration – Indian Art

Earlier today I visited the Met Museum of Art to seek out new inspiration for my next collection. I saw a couple of current exhibitions, however found ‘Sultans of Deccan Indian, 1500-1700, Opulence and Fantasy’, particularly inspiring.

The Met describes the exhibition by saying, ‘Opulence and fantasy characterize the art of India’s Deccan courts during the rule of its sultans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The diamond-rich region attracted artists, poets, writers, and traders from all over the world—including Iran, Turkey, Africa, and Europe—who were drawn to the Shi’a culture and material splendor of the courts. Under their mixed influence, captivating art styles of otherworldly charm evolved.’

I purchased a beautiful book about Indian Art, ‘Visions of Mughal India; The Collection of Howard Hodgkin’, by Andrew Topsfield and published by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The great contemporary British artist Howard Hodgkin has been collecting Indian pictures since his schooldays, and 42 paintings from his personal collection are displayed in the book.

I plan to use the following select images from the book as a concept starting point for my new jewelry and textile collection.

Prince Aurangzeb, Mughal style in the Deccan, c.1653-55.

‘Sultan Muhammad Adil Shah and Ikhas Khan riding an elephant’, by Haidar Ali and Ibrahim Khan, 1645.

‘Sidi Masud Khan’, Golconda, Deccan, c.1680.

‘Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III’, Mysore, Karnataka, 1870.

‘Maharaja Bakhat Singh’, Nagaur, Rajasthan, 1735.