NAVINA HAIDAR: I'm Navina Haidar. I'm a curator in the Islamic department. One of the most extraordinary objects on view in this gallery is the Goa stone in its gold holder. And this is a very mysterious, powerful object. ….Because contained within this oval container was a large stone which is made of a composite of many different elements, including ivory, bone, different types of organic and inorganic materials, including crushed gems. And it was believed at the time that ingesting small parts of this Goa stone would be very good for your health and also an antidote to poisoning, which was, unfortunately, sometimes practiced at the time. The container… is a tour de force of goldwork… The oval container is covered with three layers of gold carving and work: an inside arabesque covered with a kind of a trellis.... And then within the cartouches of this trellis is a whole series of… figures of animals. And if you look closely, you can see monkeys, squirrels, griffins, unicorns; a whole variety of animal figures that clearly have European links as well... There is a strong Indian element as well. …The three-footed stand; this tradition of having three feet is something that's seen in metalwork of southern India. And the whole thing is surmounted by a very Indian-looking bird, which is a bit of a fantastical bird. It's not quite a peacock and it's not quite a bird of prey, but it looks like a combination of the two. Goa stones…are known as Goa stones because they were most likely produced along the western coast of India, and… their production is associated with Jesuits, who are based…in the Goa area and exported sometimes through longstanding links with Portuguese traders and other European merchants who… could easily take these to clients in Europe.