East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas from The Al Thani Collection
By Martin Chapman and Amin Jaffer
East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas from The Al Thani Collection presents a diverse cultural portrait through the examination of luxury goods produced on the Indian subcontinent from the time of the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the present. Published on the occasion of a major exhibition at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, this rich volume explores the many compelling dialogues between the East and the West, such as the relationship between one’s gender and the act of wearing jewelry. Further subjects, including the formation of this significant collection and detailed descriptions of many of its prized objects, are also discussed in scholarly essays by Martin Chapman and Amin Jaffer. Filled with lavish reproductions of some of the most beautiful Indian jewels from over the course of more than four centuries as well as Indian miniatures and other dazzling works of art, the pages of East Meets West comprise a treasure trove of sumptuous objects and fascinating stories.
Authors
Martin Chapman is curator in charge of European decorative arts and sculpture and interim curator in charge of European art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. His recent publications include The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin at the Legion of Honor (2017); Breguet: Art and Innovation in Watchmaking (2015); The Salon Doré from the Hôtel de La Trémoille (2014); The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita and Beyond, 1950–1990 (2013); and Royal Treasures from the Louvre: Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette (2012).
Amin Jaffer is senior curator of The Al Thani Collection, an encyclopedic holding of more than six thousand works of art. He is the author of Furniture from British India and Ceylon (2001) and Made for Maharajas (2006); and he is the co-editor of Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe (2004) and Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts (2009), both of which accompanied exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Most recently, he oversaw a double exhibition Treasures from The Al Thani Collection at the Palace Museum, Beijing (2018), and edited its associated catalogues.
