The Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art specializes in traditional art produced in India over a span of two millennia, from antiquity through the early modern period. The Mittals’ sole criteria in assembling the collection were aesthetic appeal and quality, with no differentiation among periods, religions, classical art, or folk art. As a result, the museum houses a diverse collection of over 2,000 objects including a significant amount of what can be categorized as Islamic art, although the museum does not subscribe to the religious categorization of its objects. Since its foundation in AH 1396/1976 CE, the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum has contributed to landmark exhibitions of Indian art hosted by the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the National Museum (New Delhi), and the Museum Rietberg (Zurich), among others. The museum is participating in AlMadar to promote cultural exchange, engage with the international community, and foster mutual learning and advancement in the field of Indian art.

In response to the theme of numbers, and the quest to reflect nature’s beauty, the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum has selected metalwork decorated with complex floral patterns that repeat with the precision of a design algorithm. The aesthetically pleasing repetition of forms on the metalwork is manipulated to fit each object’s dimensions and shapes. The museum has also chosen several calligraphic specimens demonstrating the skillful use of proportional systems to achieve consistency and harmony—as mathematical ratios determine the size and spacing of the letters and their components.

Tray

Made of an alloy of zinc and copper mixed in precise ratios and blackened with an equally precise composite containing potassium nitrate and ammonium chloride, both the composition and decoration of this tray relate to numbers. Mathematical precision underlies the division of the tray’s surface into decorative units based on the number 24—from the 24 lappets around the rim to the 24 motifs around the base and the central rosette, all connected by 24 floral bands.

These designs have been created through an inlay of silver and brass that contrasts brilliantly with the dark surface of the tray, a technique known as bidri. This tray is a particularly notable example of the craft, displaying three different types of inlay. In some areas, the design has been engraved and inset with pieces of silver or brass, a process called tehnishan. There are also areas where simple silver or brass wire is used, a process called tarkashi.

When the process is reversed, with the floral ornamentation appearing in black and the background covered in silver, the technique is called mahtabi (moon-like). This technique, which is the most difficult to execute, can be seen around the rim and cavetto of the tray.