HYDERABAD: A glass painting of the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan preserved in the Nizam’s Museum in Purani Haveli may look like just another attractive painting on glass from the grand olden days.
But it is a unique and rare reverse glass painting made with precious and semi-precious stones, which was gifted by Queen Victoria to the Nizam, inspired by the dress and ornamentation of the Nizam on the occasion of the silver jubilee of his coronation in 1936. The painting was made by Glass Craft Company Limited which was based in London.
The Nizam’s Museum kicked-off the World Heritage Week on Sunday, with a lecture given by Gemologist Usama Ahmed, who explained to the visitors how the painting was made. According to Usama, who has researched the process of making such a painting, several types of precious stones which were powdered and mixed were used in the painting. For example, to make the white pigment diamond, pearl and white lead were used, and the green colour was made using emerald, jade, turquoise, moss and agate. The pink colour was made by combining ruby, cinnabar and spinel, and the yellow was made of topaz, corundum and cats eye. The sky blue colour was made using lapis lazuli and black was made of sang-e-musa and fine coal.
The royal robe worn by the Nizam had a ‘Star of India’ badge presented by Queen Victoria, which was painted in yellow using agate, cats eye and topaz. In the center of the badge there is a star which was decorated with diamonds and blue colour around the star made using lapis lazuli.The painting depicts some of the head ornaments worn by the Nizam over the ‘dastar’ and the ‘sarpech’, which includes ‘jegha’, ‘kalgi’ and ‘turah’, a necklace decorated with diamonds and emeralds, the ornamentation which was also worn around his neck. The pendant of his necklace was studded with diamonds and a ruby at the centre.
The yellow sherwani worn by the Nizam was made using topaz and floral design painted with corundum.
Usama tells TNIE that the Nizam usually didn’t wear jewellery, but at the time of his coronation and on the silver jubilee of his coronation he did wear them. The painting was done with absolute precision and care, as the powder-coloured stones were painted on one glass, and another glass was placed on top of it, as if the painting was sandwiched between the two glass sheets, which is a rare art form seldom found in these days.
“It is like making Rangoli on a sheet, where the artists had the only chance to get their art right, and they were greatly skillful and successful in that,” Usama observes. Another unique feature of the painting is that when a person stands in front of the three-dimensional painting, he gets the feeling that the Nizam is facing him. When the person moves to the left or right, the painting appears to reorient itself to face the person, which is an optical illusion.
The museum has also established a photo exhibition on the theme “Palaces of Nizam” at the museum as part of the heritage week, where rare photos of almost all the palaces and civic establishments have been put on display. Painting, quiz and essay writing competitions are being held at the Museum throughout the heritage week which concludes on November 25.