The use of mother of pearl in pietra dura is a characterstic feature of Mughal monuments. What is heartening is that it is still a living heritage in Tajganj near the Taj un like Persian blue pottery tradition which is alive in Jaipur while already extinct in Iran the place of it"s birth.

Mother of Pearl is used to cover the entire cenotaph and its chhatri/canopy of the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, at Fatehpur Sikri. I am informed that it is the only one in the world that it covered with mother of pearl.

Digvijay: What is "mother of pearl in pietra dura"? Could you please write a short explanatory note. Thank you.

@Pulin:Mother of pearl inlay over the canopy in H Salim Chishti's (r.a) tomb is extensive.Today it has turned salmon pink but must have gleamed like pearls when it was first made during the times of Akbar.The trellis work in marble and the Jain style brackets on the outside are exquisite. This mausoleum's location amidst a red sandstone chowk and surrounding buildings and high verandahs enhances it's beauty so it shines like a pearl majestically without being overbearing or loud.

@Digvijay Singh Kushwaha: You are abs right - 100%. The marble screen on both front corners is the finest that one has come across to date. Wish I could upload a photo that I had taken from inside the tomb, looking out to Buland Darwaza.

The brackets that you mention were carved earlier in the small palace compound behind the mosque. This is where Jodhabai spent her days before delivering Salim (Jahangir) while in the care of Salim Chishti. Here in this compound, the brackets can be seen, carved in red-sand stone, which were later copied in marble for the tomb. Just behind Quibla facade to the mosque. You must see it, the next time you are there.

@Asad uncle : Pietra dura is coloured and semi-precious and precious stone inlay work.It is most certainly a European import to the Mughal monuments.This technique of पच्चीकारी ornamentation in stone was perfected in Itmad-ud-Daula although it’s pietra dura designs are geometrical as they are in Sikandra. The striking feature in Sikandra are two large swastikas in pietra dura (in both black and white marble on red sandstone)on the main gateway to Akbar’s mausoleum. The stylized (and arabesque style) floral motif designs of the Taj are most enchanting.The use of floral motifs was not seen in previous Mughal monuments. Even flowers in bas relief are really beautiful. The Quranic ayats are so inlaid in black marble that they look absolutely symmetrical even when viewed from whatever distance. Absolute symmetry is the most striking feature of the Taj Mother of pearl are the extract from the inside of molluscs and are almost iridescent.It was used extensively in buttons throughout the world until the invention of plastic.The use of pointed leaves and mother-of-pearl inlay is a characterstic Mughal feature.The effect of the use of mother-of-pearl with shades of blue stone (lapis lazuli and turquoise) flowers on pristine white marble is surreal. Nowadays this technique is being used even in new temples which are being made. I saw one in Gujarat. The craftsmen in Tajganj now have orders for name plates with surrounding Mughal style pietra dura floral motifs.Table tops are commissioned too in large numbers and find their way all over the world most particularly to the middle east.

Thank you Digvijay for the explanation of the terms pietra dura, mother of pearl, and pachchi-kari. You are right that mother of pearl were used for buttons until the introduction of plastics. About 20 years ago, a search team from the Anthropology department of this university was sent to find out what happened to the ill-fated expedition of Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin in the Northwest passage in the Arctic Circle around 1845. They had all been killed and no one knew where and how did they die. The search team found that the entire team died of lead poisoning and bitter cold. Interestingly, when they opened the ice-covered graves of the soldiers, the bodies were fresh - preserved perfectly as if they died the day before. Their naval uniforms had buttons made of molluscan shells as you mention.

from medicis of florence