Meena Earring

Meena is the feminine form of ‘Minoo’ in Persian, meaning heaven and refers to the azure colour of heaven. Jewelry in old times was not only an embellishment, but each stone was endowed with a mystical quality and used as a protection against evil forces. Hence, in the Mughal era the craft of jewelry making was encouraged by the royalty and this gave birth to Meena kari. Meenakari is a Persian art of colouring the surface of metals by fusing brilliant colours.

Experts link the history of meenakari in Iran. The Iranian craftsmen of Sassanid era invented this art and Mongols spread it to India and other countries. The art was brought by Persian enamellists around early 17th century during the Mughal era. The ancient, intricate art of meenakari involves enameling the surface of gold with luminous colours by artisans called ‘meenakars’. Meenakari work was originally used in architecture, to adorn walls, pillars and roofs, but the begums of the emperor developed a great fondness for the art and asked for it to be a part of their jewelry.

The process of making these remains as is, from 500 years back. This piece has used a meenakari form called ‘Panch rangi meena’ in which, several colors are used.