{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O10654"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10654/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF4663/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF4663/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AF4663","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JU6266","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O10654/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O10654","accessionNumber":"02758(IS)","objectType":"Gold headdress","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This jewelled headdress formed part of a gold desposit discovered in 1855 during the clearance of buildings at the foot of the Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon (then Rangoon). Shaped like a turban, it is made of repoussé gold sheet and rests on a flared base set with gems. The dome may have fitted over a coiled length of hair, secured by a long pin through holes at the base. A lozenge-shaped projection, likely once set with a jewel, was worn over the nose. An inscription in Pali links the deposit to a wife of the Mon King Rajadhiraja (r.1384–1421).","physicalDescription":"A headdress made from repoussé gold sheet with flared base and set with precious stones. It may have been shaped to fit over a coiled length of hair and held in place by a long pin passed through holes at the base. The shape resembles a type of turban known as <i>gaung baung</i> which is traditionally made from a strip of cloth tied around the head with a loop pulled out to one side. A lozenge-shaped appendage, possibly originally inset with a jewel, was worn at the front over the nose.\n\nThe headdress was found alongside several other objects, including a gold reliquary in the shape of a stupa, 02755(IS), and a gold reliquary in the form of a lidded bowl, 02752(IS), during the clearance of buildings at the foot of Shwedagon Pagoda Hill in Yangon, Myanmar, for the construction of a British army barracks in 1855, following the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852–1853). This headdress and the associated finds may relate to the funerary remains of a queen of the Mon king Rajadhiraj (or Razadarit), who reigned from around 1384 to 1420.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"},{"text":"precious stones","id":"x44989"}],"techniques":[{"text":"raising","id":"AAT237068"},{"text":"repousse'","id":"AAT54023"},{"text":"incising","id":""}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gold repoussé, inset precious stones, incised","categories":[{"text":"Hats & headwear","id":"THES48943"},{"text":"Gemstones","id":"THES270329"},{"text":"India Museum","id":"THES286062"}],"styles":[{"text":"Mon","id":"AAT19089"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AF4663","2017JU6266"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"47A","id":"THES49797"},"free":"","case":"CA016","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Helmet","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Myanmar","id":"x30037"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Burma","id":"x30037"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 15th century","earliest":"1395-01-01","latest":"1504-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"02755(IS)","id":"O10652"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"02752(IS)","id":"O10650"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"India Museum transfer 1879","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"19.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"16.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"maximum","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"15","unit":"cm","qualifier":"minimum","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Discovered by labourers in 1855 during the construction of a barracks near the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (then Rangoon), Myanmar, along with a gold reliquary in the shape of a stupa, 02755(IS), a gold reliquary in the form of a lidded bowl, 02752(IS), and several other objects. These items were sent to Calcutta and then on to the East India Company's India Museum in 1856. They were exhibited at a meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society in June 1857 and transferred to the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum) in 1879.\n\nThis headdress was previously associated with Queen Shin Sawbu (r. 1454–1471), the daughter of King Rajadhiraja (r. 1384–1421), but a reading of the inscription on a gold sheet in the Pali language, found with the headdress, suggests that it is instead connected to a wife of this king.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Headdress inset with precious stones, repoussé gold, Myanmar, 15th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sykes, Col. W.H. “Account of Some Golden Relics Discovered at Rangoon.” <i>Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society</i> Vol. 17 (1860): 298–308.\n\nSinger, Noel F. “The Gold Relics of Bana Thau.” Arts of Asia (September/October 1992): 81.\n\nGuy, John. “Gold in Asia.” In Gold and Civilisation, exhibition catalogue, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 11 March – 24 June 2001, 169–191. Illustrated p. 182.\n\nStadtner, Donald M. \"Rajadhiraj's Rangoon Relics and a Mon Funerary Stupa.\" Journal of the Siam Society Vol. 103 (2015): 63–88."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Saya Thein, <font -u>Shin Sawbu</font> \r\nJournal Burmese Research Society,1911, Vol.I.,Part 2."},{"reference":{"text":"Burmese art / John Lowry. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1974 Number: 0112901794 :","id":"AUTH339985"},"details":"cat. no. 28","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[{"text":"","id":""}],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"buddhism","id":"AAT73738"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Headdress\r\nAbout 1450\r\nFrom the same hoard as the reliquary, this is believed to\r\nbe the ceremonial helmet worn by Queen Shin-saw-bu,\r\nruler of the Mon people between 1453 and 1460. It was\r\nmoulded to fit over her hair and held in place by a long\r\npin passing through the two holes. The extension came\r\ndown over her nose.\r\nGold decorated with 62 gems\r\nBurma\r\nMuseum no. 02758(IS)","date":{"text":"14/06/2011","earliest":"2011-06-14","latest":"2011-06-14"}}],"partNumbers":["02758(IS)"],"accessionNumberNum":"02758","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"India Museum Slip Book","id":"THES50388"},"number":"7595"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-20","recordCreationDate":"1999-03-17","availableToBook":false}}