The mosaic work of Agra is chiefly applied at present to ornamental furniture and household objects of art, the inlay being of rock crystal, topaz, pearls, turquoise, carnelian, jade, coral, amethyst, bloodstone, garnet, sapphire, jasper, lapis-lazuli, agates, and chalcedony. It originated in the exquisite decorations of the Taj at Agra (A.D. 1627-1658) by Austin de Bordeaux. The art had almost died out, until about the middle of the 19th century it was revived by Dr. (Surgeon General) John Murray, of the Bengal Medical Service. It is Florentine in origin and style, but Indian in the forms of its ornamentation. The mirror mosaic work in the Shish Mahal in the palace of Akbar (A.D. 1556-1605), or of Shah Jahan (A.D. 1627-1658), and that of the Shish Mahal of Lahore, is the work both of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
Two things are acting unfavourably on the hereditary skill of the Hindu craftsman in recent years. The authority of the trade guilds has been relaxed under the freedom of English rule, and the importation of British goods has forced many artisans into agriculture and even domestic service. It was under the Indian guild system that the sumptuary arts were carried to a state of perfection, until at length the whole bullion of the western nations of antiquity and medimval times was poured into the east in exchange for them.' Some of the best workmen of British India ale in Dacca. Chittagong, and Katch (Cutch). In Gujerat, at the towns of Dholka, Viragram, and Ahmadabad, working in gold and silver is largely carried on, and the Cutch, Gujerat, and Kattyawar goldsmiths are skilful in the decoration of arms, in silver and parcel-gilt and gold. At the present day, Dehli stands out prominently as the town of jewellers. The chief characteristics of its jewel lery are the purity of the gold and silver employed, the delicacy and minuteness of the workmanship, the taste and skill displayed in the combination of coloured stones, and the aptitude for the imita tion of any kind of original art on the part of workmen. Panjabi artists have retained a high reputation for skill as goldsmiths. Their best known manufacture is in parcel-gilt water jars, graven through the gilding to the silver below.
Still more pleasing are the copper-hammered work, lotas, from Tanjore, of which Sir G.Birdwood has given several engravings. In its bold forms, the brass-work of the same place recalls the descrip tions of Homer of the work of the artists of Sidon. Some are simply etched, others deeply cut in mythological designs, and others diapered all over with a leaf pattern similar to that seen in Assyrian sculpture. Those encrusted with silver are the
most beautiful.
The beaten-gold jewellery of the purest Hindu style is made at Sawuntwari, Mysore, Vizianagrain ; and Damascus work, in gold, is chiefly carried on in Kashmir, at Gujerat and Sealkote in the Pan jab, and is called koftgari or beaten work. Damas cening in silver is also called bedri work, which is made at Beder, Purniah. In 1866, only one Hindu family remained in Beder engaged in this trttanague work.
Enamelling, the master craft of the world, is practised in great perfection at Jaipur (Jeypore) in Rajputana. It is champlevd. A round plate presented to the Prince of Wales is the largest specimen ever produced, and took four years in the making. There is an engraving of a native writing-case in the shape of an Indian gondola, which is of admirable workmanship ; the colours of the blue and green enamel being.brighter even than the natural iridescence of the peacocks' tails. The canopy which covers the ink-bottle is coloured with green, blue, ruby, and coral-red enamels.
Throughout the Madras Presidency and in Mysore, the gold and silver metals are superbly wrought in swami work, the ornamentation consists of figures of the Puranic gods in high relief, either beaten out from the surface or afflYed to it, and removeable at pleasure, like the emblemata of the Romans. The metal work for everyday use is in brass, copper, and tin, or their alloys, in the form of lotas, atr-dans„ pandans, dishes, bowls, candlesticks, images, bells, sacrificial spoons, censers, and they are made all over India. Kash mir, 3foradabad, and Benares are famed sites. Also Bandhua in Oudh, likewise in Nuddeah, Ten dukhera, Nasik, Poona, Ahmadabad, Bombay, Madura, Travancore, and Tanjore.
Bracelets are made of chank-shells at Dacca. They are sawn into semicircular pieces, which are joined together and are carved and inlaid with a red composition. The manufacture of shell brace lets in Sylhet gives employment to a large number of people.
In Egypt, anklets (or khulkhal) of solid gold or silver are worn by some ladies. They are heavy, and, knocking together as the wearer walks, make a ringing noise. Isaiah alludes to this, or perhaps to the sound produced by another kind of anklet, viz. a string of bells on the feet, which (amongst the Arabs) is a common custom for young girls or young women to wear.