Made for Maharajas
by Amin Jaffer

Made for Maharajas: A Design Diary of Princely India explores the fascination among Indian royalty for western luxury goods. This taste reached its peak during the British Raj, when Indian rulers began travelling to Europe and remodelled their lives along western lines. Commissioning architects to design palaces, purchasing fleets of cars and ordering their family jewels to be reset by the most skilled goldsmiths of the day, Indian princes established themselves as the new creative patrons of European high design. Based equally in the archives of luxury firms and in palace and private collections this book explores the role of maharajas in an age of high spending and fashion. It showcases original designs and surviving objects, exploring for the first time the creative dialogue between Indian princes and the tradesmen who produced wonders for their delectation. Rich in anecdotes and visually splendid, this book brings alive the extraordinary lavish, varied and sometimes implausible works commissioned by princes whose wealth knew no bounds and whose eccentricities were legend.