Masterpieces of the East
The Golden Throne
Christabel Gingell
United Kingdom, 2007
English
Running Time 29 minutes

Producer/Director: Christabel Gingell

The Golden Throne in the Victoria and Albert museum is an intricately designed chair that once belonged to one of India’s most charismatic rulers – Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Punjab. The throne, designed circa 1818, has become an icon representing the wealth and extravagance of Sikh royalty.

Ranjit Singh was a Sikh warrior king who unified the notoriously turbulent region of five rivers in what was then North-Western India. He was an accomplished statesman who became known in his lifetime as the Lion of the Punjab and was appointed Maharajah in 1801. He set up court in Lahore and commissioned the throne as a symbol of his newly acquired supremacy and power.

The shape of the throne – which is wide enough to allow its sitter to be cross-legged – reflects the fact that by the 19th century, chairs had been introduced to India by the Europeans. The throne is made from 24 carat gold panelling to make the throne light, since it would have been moved around the court when the Maharajah held public audience. The technique for fashioning the gold is known as repousse, and on such thin gold panels, this would have been incredibly difficult work. The goldsmith who was commissioned to make the throne was a Muslim called Hafez Muhammed Multani.

After Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839, his fragile Sikh kingdom was plunged into chaos and in 1849 the Punjab was formally annexed and became part of British India. Ranjit’s youngest son Dulip had briefly taken his father’s title but was deposed and dispossessed by the British. The throne entered into the collection of the East India Company Museum in London and eventually passed into the V & A’s collection, where it still exudes a sense of power from the man who once ruled a thriving nation, the Lion of the Punjab.