Indian Jewellery

From the Jacket: The romance and glamour of Indian jewellery is unending. Both men and women of the subcontinent deck themselves in jewellery. The earliest records are finds in the Indus Valley and references in the earliest writings that have come down to us. This book, lavishly illustrated in colour, examines in scholarly detail, the jewellery and the ethos in which it was used, down the ages from the earliest examples found in Mohenjodaro. Raw material was obtained from far-off places: gold and silver from Afghanistan, copper from Khetri, green felspar from Hirapur, jade from eastern Turkistan and lapis lazuli from Khorasan.

The art and technology of jewellery-making is examined in some detail as are the ornaments themselves. Even the use of semi-precious stones like jadeite, carnelian, jasper, steatite, quartz, agate, onyx and black chert are studied.

With the changing times, fashions in bodily adornment changed and this book takes a historical over-view of the changing context with apt illustrations in stunning colour.

About the Author:

Mohan Lal Nigam, born on 3rd August 1933, received his M.A. degree from the Lucknow University. Later, he obtained his Ph.D. from the same university. He went as a Commonwealth scholar to U.K. and joined the Institute of Archaeology, London University, in 1962. He got his A.M.A (diploma in museology) and F.R.A.S. from London in 1964. After a stint as Assistant Professor in Lucknow University, he joined the state Museum, Lucknow, in 1959. He later joined the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, in 1964 and was appointed its Director in 1975.

Dr. Nigam is a well-known scholar of international repute and has authored twelve books and more than fifty research papers for publications in India and abroad. He has held high positions in various academic bodies: President of the Museums' Association of India and Chairman of the Indian Art History Congress, and member of ICOM, Paris. He was Editor of the Journal of the Museums' Association of India and Editor of the Salar Jung Museum's Research Journal.

Contents:

Indian Jewellery
Temple Jewellery of South India
Tribal Jewellery
Ratna-Pariksha
The Craft of Jewellery Making