Page:The Industrial Arts of India.djvu/113

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has been corrupted to suit European taste ; but nothing can exceed the technical excellence of the rose chains, and heart pattern necklaces and bracelets made in this city. The native jewelry of Trichinopoly [Plates 53 and 54] is similar to that of the Panjab. Silver liligrain work of the best description is produced by the jewellers of Travancore.

The jewelry of Ceylon in filigrain, chasing and repousse work, is remarkable for the delicacy of its ornamentation in granulated gold, in the manner of the antique jewelry of Etruria, and for its exquisite finish.

A valuable list of jewels and ornaments worn by Mahommedan women in India is given in Herklot’s Quanoon-i- Islam : and Mrs. Rivett Carnac’s Catalogue of the peasant and savage jewelry ex- hibited by that accomplished lady at the Annual International Exhibition of 1872, is of very great value. It is printed in the Catalogue of the Indian Department of the Exhibition of that year, which contains several local lists of rare aboriginal jewelry from all parts of India. Mr. Baden Powell, in his Handbook of the Manufactures and Arts of the Panjab (Lahore, 1872), gives a complete list of the jewelry of that province, with illustrations of all its characteristic forms.

The few examples of jewelry in the collection of the Prince of Wales’ Indian presents are exceedingly choice. The diamonds are particularly interesting. The Hindus value diamonds in jewelry solely for their decorative effect, but they most extravagantly prize them for themselves as a sort of talisman ; and they particularly value them when the natural crystal is so perfect and clear that it requires only to have its natural facets polished. This is what jewellers call a point diamond, and there is a good example of one among the Prince’s diamonds. If but slightly ground down it is called a deep table, or more expressively in French a clou . This is a very ancient form of diamond, and there is a perfect example of it in the Prince’s collection. A flat shallow parallelogram is called a lasque , of which there are many examples