For hundreds of years, the emperors of India have commissioned extraordinary royal jewellery. And no one has amassed a more dazzling collection than Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani, whose pieces span the 17th-century Mughal empire to 21st-century Cartier. This January, the Al-Thani collection goes on view at New York's Metropolitan Museum, and in an exclusive interview, the Qatari prince explains his passion for precious gems
His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani, CEO of the Qatari megaholding company Qipco and first cousin of the Emir, is a man accustomed to getting what he wants. But not all desires can be foreseen. There was, for example, the day in October 2009 when he visited an exhibition called ‘Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts’, at London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum. Sheikh Hamad walked away enthralled by the artistry and otherworldly opulence of the old Indian courts. The sheikh, who at that time had never even been to India, would soon begin scouring the world for royal Indian “splendours” of his own, maharajas’ treasures bejewelled with rubies, emeralds, diamonds, gold, jade and pearls.
“It is remarkable what you can do when you are a collector with his energy, passion, knowledge level and resources,” observes Amin Jaffer, the V&A curator who invited Sheik Hamad, then 27 years old, to the Maharaja exhibit and later, as international director of Asian art at Christie’s, would advise him on his acquisitions.
And acquire he did. Five years after he exited the Victoria and Albert show, a new landmark exhibition of Indian riches—‘Treasures from India’, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art—is all from the Al-Thani collection. Spanning 400 years of Indian high jewellery, from Mughal heritage masterpieces to Art Deco works by Cartier to maharaja-inspired creations from contemporary designers, there is no comparable collection on the planet.
(Clockwise from top right) Dressed for excess: A sapphire-and-diamond turban ornament (opposite) and a diamond-and-feather turban ornament that once belonged to Maharaja Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, a 20th-century ruler of Nawanagar; Headdress of state: Two 17th-century Mughal turban ornaments in jigha style, (above); a 19th-century sarpech turban ornament
And Sheikh Hamad’s passion for collecting remains strong. He remembers well the vision from the Victoria and Albert show that started it all. “Without doubt,” he says, “the piece which most impressed me was the Mughal sapphire turban ornament given to Admiral Charles Watson by Nawab Mir Jafar in 1757.” In the Watson sarpech, part of the V&A’s permanent collection, you can find the seeds of at least three blossoming ideals that would drive the Sheikh’s ensuing hunt: It is extremely precious, set with gold, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and a centerpiece sapphire; it is gorgeously worked; and it has that most elusive attribute of all: A clear, verifiable historical provenance. The Mughal period that created that Watson ornament anchors one historical end of the Al-Thani collection, for a very good reason: The Mughals created one of history’s most unbridled legacies of luxury craft. The acquisitive empire, which claimed descent from Genghis Khan himself, swept into the Indian subcontinent in the 16th century and lingered as dynastic rulers right through to 1857. They were rapturous, not to say rapacious, lovers of treasure who soon learnt that the Indian artisans in their new dominions were bringing game to the jewelled arts on a level they had never imagined.
(This story appears in the Jan-Feb 2015 issue of ForbesLife India. To visit our Archives, click here.)