Jali (Screen)

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Jali (Screen)

Place of OriginIndia

Dateearly 17th century

DimensionsH: 55 7/8 in. (142 cm); W: 31 1/8 in. (79 cm); D: 2 5/16 in. (5.8 cm)

MediumCarved red sandstone.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. Grafton M. Acklin, W.P. Baker, and Mrs. George D. Pratt, and Bequest of Mrs. Babbitt, by exchange

Object number

2006.36

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 15

DescriptionA carved and pierced double-sided red sandstone jali (screen) with a zigzag design, the wave-like diagonals filled with a complex lattice of interlocking hexagons.

Label TextJali were used in India as decorative stone window screens as early as the 7th century and may have copied earlier screens made of wood that have not survived. By the time of the reign of a strong dynasty called the Mughals, who came to power in the 1500s, jali had become sophisticated in their design and very precise in their execution. This zigzag design, with its interlocking octagons and pentagons, was favored during the rule of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (ruled 1605–27) and came most likely from a palace window.Published ReferencesSimon Ray, Indian and Islamic works of art, London: the Gallery, April 3-28, 2006, p. 188, no. 85. Cf. Stuart Cary Welch, India Art and Culture:1300-1900, 1985, pp. 191-193, no. 120.