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The golden age again

C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons is all set to document the bejewelled history of South India with Projekt Reminiscence

PRECIOUS PAST The rich and colourful history of jewellery in India has largely gone undocumented PHOTO: AFP

There is something about jewellery. It seems to be the glittering gem in the crown of acquisitiveness. Almost every famous jewel in history has accompanying tales of blood, sweat, tears, and fascinating history. The sparkling lovelies seem to cast a mesmerising spell on the poor clueless human who can do naught but follow its scintillating trailof romance, history, even death and destruction. (Think Hope Diamond. This fabulous gem from the mines of Golconda on the Deccan Plateau is supposed to be responsible for everything from the French Revolution and Marie and Louis's decapitation to the 9/11 attacks.)

Jewellery project

Happily, the jewellery project undertaken by C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons (CKC) is about history of a more cheerful kind. The big-time jewellery house has announced Projekt Reminiscence where the history of Karnataka and Deccan jewellery in the South Indian context over the past 100 years would be presented in a glittering, glossy coffee table book with the blood, guts and gore suitably expunged. Noted art historian Usha Balakrishnan will research, write, edit and design the book.

Usha says her interest in Indian jewellery was piqued when she was working "at the Brooklyn Museum and a man came with a suitcase carrying 150 pieces of Indian jewellery. It was when I was asked to evaluate this jewellery that I realised there is practically no documentation as far as jewellery is concerned. I went to the Sangam Period, the Vedas and the sculptures to get clues about the jewellery heritage of India. India, and particularly South India, has been the gem centre of the world for the past 2,500 years. The diamonds, mines, pearls are all from South India. The result of the research was the books The Dance of the Peacock and Jewels of the Nizam.

"Three years ago I was invited by CKC to give a series of lectures. That was when the idea of documenting the rich legacy of South Indian jewellery came to me. The project has been under way over the last two-and-a-half years. Now we are in the final stages and looking for contributions from the public. Jewellers maintain a veil of secrecy and it was only after the British came that people realised the importance of documentation."

In the old days, when life was sepia-toned, the sale and purchase of jewellery is one of those things that "cultured people" never talked about. It was hidden like a guilty secret and aired sporadically on occasions like weddings and suchlike when the term worth your weight in gold took on a happily literal meaning. It was only in the nervous Nineties that we decided to let it all hang out.

As Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director, CKC says: "We have archived stuff but there are still lacunae... We did not imagine we would exist for 140 years. We are looking at the people to help fill in the blanks. Over the next 10 days, we invite families to share information, which can be in the form of old pieces of jewellery either from CKC or from any other jeweller from the South, bills, wills, records, documents, old photographs and stories. We respect privacy and we will ensure the data collection is completely hassle-free. After the 30-day period we will research, photograph and authenticate all the claims."

Royalty and Raj

The jewellers who started off as a little shop in the corner selling beads on Commercial Street many years ago have served the greatest and the richest, including crafting seals and insignias for the Raj. But there were also simple people (the ones that could afford to buy the dainty little things) who patronised CKC and it is from them that the firm is looking for valuable insights and information.

And so, if you wish to contribute to filling in the blanks of our rich and colourful heritage, drop a line to 35 & 36 Commercial Street, Bangalore 560001, or call 080 25588731 to 34 or email myjeweller@ckcsons.com

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

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