Indo-Persian work A circular box made of celadon-coloured onyx. The lid is adorned with a large circular medallion inscribed in gilded Arabic script, containing Sura al-Ikhlāṣ (CXII): ‘Say: He is Allah, the One and Only. Allah, the Self-Sufficient. He begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is none like unto Him.’ The medallion is surrounded by a frieze of finely drawn vegetal arabesques, also enhanced with gilding. The surface is punctuated by rectangular cartouches framed by arabesques, bearing the phrase Muḥammad rasūl Allāh ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’ in Arabic calligraphy. Diameter 9.5 cm