Rectangular leather firman case with a fold-over flap top, India, 18th century.This leather pouch was a container for an official letter or proclamation (firman) issued by a person of standing within the Mughal empire of the 18th century. It is one of a group of three acquired by the museum in 1923, and would have been lined with fine taffeta. Most of the linings have perished, but small remnants indicate that the taffeta was originally pigment-painted with trellis designs.Rectangular leather firman case with a fold-over flap top scalloped at the end and lined with yellow silk damask. The ground is stamped with a diamond diaper and gilt. Slightly raised pattern partly gilt and partly in chocolate-colour leather. Horizontal stripes across the body and down the sides with repeated contingent S-scroll leafy stems, and sealed with four petalled rosettes at their points of contact. Damask lining with a diamond trellis enclosing open diamond shapes.