The pietra dura inlay on top of the cenotaph of Shah Jahan in in the Taj Mahal

By an Agra draftsman, circa 1820

Watercolour on paper

180 by 48 cm., 70 ¾ by 19 in.

The cenotaph of Shah Jahan is dated 1666, the year of his death, and the pietra dura work is considered to be amongst the best and most beautiful ever executed. The sunburst (shamsa) at the head of the panel is a solar symbol much used in Shah Jahani imagery, the remainder forms a most beautiful pattern of floral sprays and meanders. The blank rectangle represents the pen-box signifying a male occupant of the tomb.

This is one of the extremely rare full-size renderings of the cenotaph. For another of almost identical dimensions, commissioned by Lady Nugent in 1812, now in the British Library, see Koch 2006, p.173, no. 243.

Provenance

Private collection, London, acquired in the 1980s