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1 of 253523 objects
Waist belt mid-nineteenth century or earlier
Gold, diamonds, emeralds and rubies | 6.9 x 26.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 61971
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A hinged waist belt made of a gold framework inlaid with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The inner rim of the belt is engraved with patterns of lotuses and peacocks. The front of the belt imitates a buckle, where a small hook that actually holds the two halves of the belt together is concealed. Belts of this type would be worn by women in India, in particular South India.
Provenance
Presented for Queen Alexandra, when Princess of Wales by Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, Maharaja of Mysore in 1875, during the Prince of Wales's tour of India in 1875-76.
The Prince met the Maharaja of Mysore in Bombay, the first stop of his four-month tour of the Indian subcontinent. A reporter for The Daily Telegraph, J. Drew Gay, travelled to India during the Prince’s tour wrote that the belt was ‘one of the most resplendent ornaments that could be designed’ and claimed that it had come from the Mysore treasury (J. Drew Gay, The Prince of Wales in India, or, From Pall Mall to the Punjaub, p. 43).
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Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Gold, diamonds, emeralds and rubies
Measurements
6.9 x 26.5 cm (whole object)
Category
Object type(s)
Place of Production
Mysore [Karnataka]
Featured in
ExhibitionSplendours of the Subcontinent: A Prince's Tour of India 1875-6: The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Some of the finest treasures presented to the Prince of Wales during his tour of India
