Lot 280: AN INDO-PERSIAN SILVER-MOUNTED CARNELIAN TALISMAN PENDANT WITH RED AND GREEN GEMSTONE BORDER, 19TH CENTURY

AN INDO-PERSIAN SILVER-MOUNTED CARNELIAN TALISMAN PENDANT WITH RED AND GREEN GEMSTONE BORDER, 19TH CENTURY

The piece features a central oval carnelian plaque of translucent yellow-orange colour, deeply intaglio-engraved with two registers of Arabic calligraphy in Naskh script. The upper register contains the Basmala, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, while the lower register contains further religious text. The plaque is secured within a silver frame by a scalloped, petal-like edge. This border is set with forty-four gemstones, comprising twenty-two red stones and twenty-two green stones in an alternating sequence, each held within a raised flower-like bezel. The reverse of the pendant consists of a silver backplate hand-engraved with a sunflower motif and a cross-hatched centre.

L: 7cm