{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O473869"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O473869/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HW3234/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HW3234/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2015HW3234","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HW3235","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HX2224","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JB4791","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O473869/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O473869","accessionNumber":"1680-1882","objectType":"Cup","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This cup very clearly illustrates the skill of the craftsmen who were producing fine objects during the time of the Mughal Empire. It has been expertly fashioned from a single piece of nephrite jade, which is a hard and durable material that requires patience and skill to work. Although it is a hard material, when it has been worked to give fine edges or thicknesses, it can be prone to damage by sharp impacts or significant and rapid changes in temperature. Objects such as this would have been destined only for wealthy or powerful people.","physicalDescription":"A sixteen-lobed, oval cup fashioned in grey nephrite jade. It has a smooth but ribbed, polished interior with a central flower carved in low relief. At one end, which is slightly blunted, there is a handle that has been carved to appear like a rolled-up leaf. The cup stands on a short, oval, recessed foot that has been carved in low relief with a four-petalled flower. The outer walls are smooth and polished and there is a band of leaf-like motifs around the junction with the foot.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"nephrite","id":"AAT11120"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Nephrite jade, fashioned, carved and polished using abrasives and abrasive-charged tools.","categories":[{"text":"Drinking","id":"THES48965"},{"text":"Food vessels & Tableware","id":"THES48952"},{"text":"Gemstones","id":"THES270329"},{"text":"Hardstone","id":"THES270137"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2015HW3234","2015HW3235","2015HX2224","2016JB4791"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES374451"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Cup","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"India","id":"x29790"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"17th century","earliest":"1600-01-01","latest":"1699-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Wells Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"115.3","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":"Overall length including the handle"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"73.0","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.2 to 26.2","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"21.5 to 22.0","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":"Depth from the rim, at the centre"},{"dimension":"Thickness","value":"0.7 to 1.0","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":"Thickness at the rim"},{"dimension":"Length","value":"47.1","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":"Length of the foot"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"28.3","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"26/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-26","latest":"2015-08-26"},"part":"1680-1882","note":"Width of the foot"}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions vary with orientation","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This cup was fashioned in India in the 17th century and was acquired by Arthur Wells who was a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882. This collection was left to the museum in his will - the Wells Bequest.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"A sixteen-lobed, oval cup, central carved flower, scroll handle at one end, white nephrite jade, India, 17th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950]","id":"AUTH343744"},"details":"p. 227, cat. no 1142","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1680-1882"],"accessionNumberNum":"1680","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1882,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-01","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":true}}