My good friend, Mr Rajen Parikh of Antwerp, has again come up with a fascinating and historic photo from his personal family archives, a wonderful portrait taken in 1937 of a group of distinguished Palanpuri diamond merchants and in the centre the present Nawab of Palanpur, a wonderful gentleman whom I’ve had the privilege to meet, who is now 92.
When Russell Shor and I had the honour of meeting the aged Nawab (a Muslim Maharaja) 5 years ago, the Nawab spoke with pride, respect and admiration for the Palanpuri community and their achievements in founding the modern diamond industry. Although the Maharajas and Nawabs have no official title or position in the modern Indian republic the respect and admiration for the Nawab of Palanpur is fully reciprocated by the Palanpuri community who, as this picture so clearly demonstrates, remember his role and the support he extended to the community in realising their diamond dream.
The composition of the photograph has a charming harmony and balance to it, as well as an old fashioned formality, which seems to capture not only the integrity of the photos subjects but also the respectful relationships between them, a fascinating and dignified moment in diamond history captured forever.
Our historical archive is open to all at www.hgoldie.com and is intended to be a resource available to all those who are interested in the Indian diamond story and, of course, this is often the story of the Indian diamond ‘diaspora’. Fuller details of the historical note provided by Rajen on the individuals in the group portrait are available in our archive.
If you have interesting family photos in your attic or dusty old photo albums, please can you look through them and forward any historical photos to us c/o nina@hgoldie.com so that we can add them to this living memory of the origins of our business and our current success and prosperity.
All photos will be fully attributed to the owner and all descriptions provided will be attached and accredited.
When Russell Shor and I had the honour of meeting the aged Nawab (a Muslim Maharaja) 5 years ago, the Nawab spoke with pride, respect and admiration for the Palanpuri community and their achievements in founding the modern diamond industry. Although the Maharajas and Nawabs have no official title or position in the modern Indian republic the respect and admiration for the Nawab of Palanpur is fully reciprocated by the Palanpuri community who, as this picture so clearly demonstrates, remember his role and the support he extended to the community in realising their diamond dream.
The composition of the photograph has a charming harmony and balance to it, as well as an old fashioned formality, which seems to capture not only the integrity of the photos subjects but also the respectful relationships between them, a fascinating and dignified moment in diamond history captured forever.
Our historical archive is open to all at www.hgoldie.com and is intended to be a resource available to all those who are interested in the Indian diamond story and, of course, this is often the story of the Indian diamond ‘diaspora’. Fuller details of the historical note provided by Rajen on the individuals in the group portrait are available in our archive.
If you have interesting family photos in your attic or dusty old photo albums, please can you look through them and forward any historical photos to us c/o nina@hgoldie.com so that we can add them to this living memory of the origins of our business and our current success and prosperity.
All photos will be fully attributed to the owner and all descriptions provided will be attached and accredited.
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