Title
Set of seven Sherwani buttons
Year/Period
19th century
Region
Jaipur, India
Dimension
Object size: (Closed) 1.5 x 18.2 x 5.8 cm,
Object size: (Opened) 1.2 x 10.5 x 5.8 cm
Object size: (Opened) 1.2 x 10.5 x 5.8 cm
Accession No.
2018-00414
Collection of
Credit Line
Partly funded by the Indian Women’s Association, Singapore
This set of buttons are mounted in gold and set with flat-cut diamonds on a blue ground. The reverse sides are enamelled with polychrome floral designs. Blue buds with green leaves support several five-petalled, red flowers. The buttons were intended to be attached to front of a sherwani, a knee length coat commonly worn in India in the late 1800s. A western adaptation, the sherwani became associated with the image of an elite and educated Indian man. Decorated sherwanis would have gem-studded buttons like these attached to them.
