Pair of Jade Bangles, inlaid with 23K gold and rubies

North India, 18th century Nephrite jade, which originates in Chinese Central Asia, occurs in a range of colors, from a dense almost black shade of green to pale, luminescent white. Mughal rulers inherited their love and interest for this precious material from their Timurid ancestors. This challenged the seventeenth century craftsmen to shape jade into objects such as dagger handles, vessels and ornaments. And often enhanced them inlays of gold scrolls or flowers and precious gems. Translucent, monochromatic white nephrite was the type of jade the Mughals preferred and was mostly for important high placed persons. To the Mughals, jade was a symbol of imperial sovereignty, endowed with the apotropaic powers to prolong life and confer immortality.