This chest is unusually large compared with other known Indian chests. The visual reference comes quite clearly from Mughal architecture. The decor is organized like a long arcade: multifoil arches with plant-decorated spandrels rest on baluster-columns, known as “cypress silhouette” (sarw-andam) columns, which are characteristic of Indian architecture from the seventeenth century onwards. Several of the pavilions of the Delhi fort have fluted columns with a similar profile, marked at the base with floral scallops. In various ways the chest resembles the Jarokha throne (finished in 1648) from the Diwan-i ‘Amm (public audience hall) which was contemporary with the reign of Shah Jahan. Both objects are executed in the same unctuous style, and both have a similar composition. Such comparisons suggest that the chest should be considered as a sort of miniature architecture. However, the topside of the lid displays a decor reminiscent of the arts of the book and in particular the decoration frequently used on book-bindings. This genre of decor with intertwined leaves and plant spirals was characteristic of the rather tortured and sophisticated style of the new tendencies in eighteenth century Mughal art.