dia­mond and ruby-set gold anklet (Ta’zim), India 19^th cen­tury, est. 300,000–500,00 GBP

I adore an anklet in sum­mer, how­ever, I think that this one will do year-round. Crafted of solid gold and set with dia­monds and rubies, this nineteenth-century exam­ple was worn for cer­e­mo­nial dis­play when pre­sented at court (Maharajah’s put their best foot for­ward — the right — on these occa­sions). To wear one rep­re­sented a sign of honor and sta­tus. A sepia pho­to­graph of the Mahara­jah of Movi (1858−1922) wear­ing the anklet accom­pa­nies the lot. It will be sold by Sotheby’s in Lon­don on April 14^th.

As a lit­tle foot­note about anklets, there is a rather funny story about Wal­lis Simp­son, the Duchess of Wind­sor, wear­ing a rather exem­plary neck­lace of dia­monds at an impor­tant social gath­er­ing. When admir­ers asked what the Maha­rani, the wife of the Maharaja of Bar­oda, thought of the Duchess’ newest acqui­si­tion, the Maha­rani responded that the jew­els once looked equally well on her feet, when she wore them as an anklet; it had been re-fashioned into a neck­lace by Harry Win­ston, then sold to the Duchess. The next day, the Duchess returned the necklace.