Pietra Dura Inlay
Pietra dura, known in Mughal India as parchin kari or parchinkari, is the technique of inlaying semi-precious and decorative stones into a marble or stone ground to produce designs of extraordinary delicacy and complexity. The technique was carried to South Asia by the Mughal emperors in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, was perfected in the workshops of Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and produced some of the most distinctive decorative effects of the Mughal architecture tradition. The major surviving examples of the technique, including the Taj Mahal, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, the Red Fort in Delhi, the Moti Masjid of Agra Fort, and the Tomb of Jahangir at Lahore, are among the most accomplished works of decorative art ever produced.
The Technique
Pietra dura is a technique of inlaying cut and polished stones into a marble or stone ground to produce designs of extraordinary delicacy and complexity. The technique involves the careful selection of the stones, the precise cutting of the stones to the required shape, the carving of channels in the marble ground to receive the stones, and the setting of the stones in the channels with a resin or lime-based adhesive. The technique is distinguished from other forms of stone inlay by the use of precisely cut stones set flush with the surface of the marble, producing an effect of continuous, unbroken surface.
The technique requires a high degree of technical skill from the craftsmen involved. The selection of the stones, the cutting of the stones to the required shape, the carving of the channels in the marble, and the setting of the stones in the channels all require a high degree of precision, and the master craftsmen who carried out the work were among the most highly trained artisans in the imperial workshop. The work was generally carried out by a team of craftsmen, with the master designer providing the overall design, the stonecutters preparing the stones, the marble carvers preparing the channels, and the setters installing the stones in the channels.
Italian Renaissance Origins
The technique of pietra dura was developed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, particularly in the workshops of Florence and Rome, where it was used to decorate the chapels and floors of the great churches, the tables of the Medici family, and a wide range of other luxury objects. The Italian technique, known in Italian as commesso or commesso fiorentino, was carried to the Mughal court in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and it was adapted to the local materials and the local decorative traditions of the Indian subcontinent.
The introduction of the technique to the Mughal court was the result of a number of factors, including the diplomatic and commercial contacts between the Mughal court and the European powers, the arrival of European missionaries and craftsmen at the Mughal court, and the growing interest of the Mughal emperors in the wider world beyond the subcontinent. The technique was rapidly adopted by the imperial workshop, and it was developed in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries into the distinctive Mughal idiom that was to be perfected in the Taj Mahal.
Development Under Jahangir
The development of the technique under Jahangir was a particularly important moment in the history of the tradition. Jahangir was a connoisseur of the arts, and he took a personal interest in the development of the imperial workshop. The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah in Agra, commissioned by the empress Nur Jahan in memory of her father and completed around 1628, is often cited as the first major building to use the technique on a substantial scale, and it established a number of the conventions that were to be developed in the later projects of Shah Jahan.
The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah is notable for the extensive use of pietra dura inlay on the exterior of the building, the inclusion of the buta or paisley motif that became a signature of the Mughal inlay tradition, and the representations of the wine cup and the ewer drawn from the Persian poetic tradition. The building is often described as a “jewel box in marble.”
Development Under Shah Jahan
The development of the technique reached its highest point during the reign of Shah Jahan, when the major imperial projects of the period, including the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort in Delhi, the Moti Masjid of Agra Fort, the Tomb of Jahangir at Lahore, and the Jama Masjid of Delhi, all employed the technique on a substantial scale. The inlay of the Taj Mahal is the most extensive use of the technique in the Mughal architecture tradition, and the quality of the work is among the highest ever achieved. The calligraphic bands, the floral arabesques, the geometric patterns, and the inscriptions from the Quran that run around the iwan arches are all executed in pietra dura.
Materials
The materials used in the Mughal pietra dura tradition included a wide range of semi-precious and decorative stones sourced from across the empire and from beyond. The principal materials included jasper, jade, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, mother of pearl, onyx, amethyst, and a range of other stones. The marble ground of the inlay was generally the white marble of Makrana in Rajasthan.
The sourcing of the materials was a major undertaking. The lapis lazuli was generally sourced from the mines of Badakhshan in present-day Afghanistan, the carnelian from the mines of Cambay in Gujarat, the jade from Burma and Central Asia, the mother of pearl from the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, and the jasper from a range of sources in central and southern India. The integration of the materials from such a wide range of sources was a clear statement of the imperial reach of the dynasty, and it was a deliberate aspect of the symbolic programme of the major building projects.
Major Examples
The major surviving examples of the Mughal pietra dura tradition include the Taj Mahal at Agra, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah at Agra, the Moti Masjid of the Agra Fort, the Red Fort in Delhi, the Tomb of Jahangir at Lahore, the tomb of Akbar at Sikandra, the Bibi Ka Maqbara at Aurangabad, and the Peacock Throne, the celebrated throne of the Mughal emperors that was constructed in the early seventeenth century and that was decorated with extensive pietra dura inlay.
The Taj Mahal is the most extensive use of the technique in the Mughal architecture tradition, and the inlay covers much of the exterior and interior of the building. The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah is the building on which the technique was first used on a substantial scale, and it established a number of the conventions that were to be developed in the later projects of Shah Jahan. The Peacock Throne, although now lost, was one of the most famous examples of the technique, and the surviving descriptions and the partial reconstructions in the Iranian and Indian collections give some indication of the quality of the work.
Workshop Practices and Legacy
The pietra dura inlay was carried out in the imperial workshop, the karkhana, which was a substantial establishment employing hundreds of craftsmen organised into a number of specialised divisions. The principal divisions included the stonecutters, the marble carvers, the setters, the designers, the calligraphers, and the supervisors, and the work was coordinated through a hierarchy of master craftsmen and administrators. The training of the craftsmen was a long and demanding process, and the master craftsmen who emerged from the workshop were among the most highly trained artisans in the world.
The pietra dura tradition has been decorative art traditions in the history of the world, and its influence extends well beyond the Mughal period. The technique was adopted by the provincial Mughal courts, the Rajput kingdoms, the Deccan sultanates, the Sikh rulers of the Punjab, and the British colonial authorities, and it has been the subject of considerable imitation in the modern period. The tradition has also been the subject of considerable scholarly attention, and the surviving examples of the technique in the major imperial buildings of the dynasty have been the focus of extensive conservation work in the post-Independence period.
For the broader context of the imperial building tradition, the Mughal architecture overview pillar offers a synthetic account, while the Taj Mahal cluster page examines the most extensive use of the technique in greater depth. The Jahangir and Shah Jahan clusters provide the political and biographical context for the development of the tradition.
Sources
- Susan Stronge, The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms (V&A Publications, 1999), ch. on materials.