An emperor’s cup

This remarkable cup is carved from very pale jade in the shape of a half gourd. The handle is shaped as an ibex head with ruby eyes inset using the kundan technique of placing extraordinarily thin purified gold under pressure to set hardstones, without the use of heat. The side walls are extremely thin, the exterior is carved with acanthus leaves and the foot in the form of an open lotus flower. Overall, its small size and the astonishing delicacy of the carving make this a masterpiece of Mughal jade.

The interior is inscribed with a five-line poem in Chinese characters. The text is one of the poems and inscriptions written by the Qianlong Emperor (r. AH 1148–1209/1736–95 CE). Many of these were carved onto Mughal jade vessels, which he collected avidly. He was a prodigious poet—arguably the most productive poet in Chinese history—writing more than 42,000 verses throughout the course of his life. His poems were inscribed on both the interior and exterior surfaces of jade vessels, and many of these royal treasures remain within the treasury of the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Other Mughal jades inscribed with poems by the Qianlong Emperor include two bluish-green jade plates that arrived in China as tribute in AH 1181/1768 CE and a similarly shaped gourd cup which entered the Chinese imperial household in AH 1186/1773 CE. Although the Chinese poem dates from the 12th century AH/18th century CE, the extremely fine and detailed carving of this vessel suggests an 11th century AH/17th-century CE dating for its original manufacture.

The poem describes the fineness of the cup and the wondrous ability of the faraway craftsmen who produced it: “This jade ram’s-head petal cup dedicated to the Emperor is a famous product… It is engraved by an excellent craftsman… It is crafted with heavenly handiwork, made of the finest material and has a texture such that no one in China can make such a fine cup.”