{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1313452"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1313452/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019ME1245/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019ME1245/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019ME1245","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019ME1246","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019ME1247","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019ME1244","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1313452","accessionNumber":"IS.182:1&2-2019","objectType":"Necklace","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Twenty <i>Rudraksha</i> beads are linked with a pendant silver plaque below. The silver clasp is unattached to the beads and is possibly not originally associated with the beads.  The pendant unit depicts Shiva and his consort Parvati, or Uma as she is also known in the south, seated on the god's vehicle, Nandi the bull under a <i>Kirtimukha,</i> Head of Glory, between two inverted images of peacocks. The clasp depicts the Nataraj dancing Shiva flanked by floral sprays with Uma on his left holding a lotus blossom and a male figure on his right, who is probably their son, Skanda, also known as Karttikeya, possibly holding a lotus bud which is now damaged. A pair of <i>Kirtimukkhas</i> fill the two rectangular side panels set on their sides. Three rings each side would have originally held pendants which are now missing at the base two loops would  have been attached to a decorative container for a<i> lingam</i>. It is now crudely attached by a twisted piece of wire to a seed mounted between two looped twisted wire mountings that are later additions. \n\nThe clasp element is made of openwork sheet silver worked in high relief, similar in manufacture to <i>swami</i> work of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.The relief is soldered onto a box-like back plate with paired cylinders on each side masked by oblong plates with beaded borders. These cylinders would have been made to receive a pin hinge on one side and another pin fastening on the other. It is possible that the unit was intended as a belt fastening rather than one for a necklace. On the back there are the remains of a soldered arched frame with pin fastenings on either side, but now no cover for the probable reception of a holy inscription.\n\nThe pendant is made of repoussé sheet metal soldered onto a similarly-shaped back plate. There are two red stones in twisted wire mounts covering the loops at the top onto which the <i>Rudraksha</i> beads are linked.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver and rudraksha beads","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2019ME1245","2019ME1246","2019ME1247","2019ME1244"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"037","id":"THES375381"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"037","id":"THES375381"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Necklace","id":"AAT46001"}],[{"text":"Clasp","id":"AAT239507"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Tamil Nadu","id":"x29843"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"20th century","earliest":"1900-01-01","latest":"1999-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Dr W. Ganguly","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"10","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"pendant","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"13","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"pendant","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"5.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"11.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This necklace is part of the large donation of Indian folk jewellery from Dr Waltraud Ganguly which was collected over the last few decades before her death in 2015 from dealers in both India and Europe, in parallel with extensive fieldwork she carried out in the Indian Sub-Continent. It was shown at the exhibition in the Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau, Germany, 18 October 2013 - 18 January 2014. It was purchased from Amrapali in November 2007 for 26 Euros for the clasp and 380 Euros for the beads and pendant.","historicalContext":"Necklaces of this type were worn exclusively by Hindu men over the age of eighteen and by Shaivite priests. The pendant container which is missing here would have contained a miniature <i>lingam</i> and sacred ashes (<i>vibhuti</i>) taken from a cremation ground or from a ritual fire. The seeds from the blue fruit of the <i>elaeocarpus angustifolius tree</i> are known as rudraksha and are used as prayer beads in Hindu rosaries.","briefDescription":"Silver pendant and clasp on a necklace <i>(rudrakshamalai</i>) of Rudraksha beads from Tamil Nadu.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Indian folk jewellery : designs and techniques / Waltraud Ganguly. Number: 9789350502129, 9350502127","id":"AUTH338827"},"details":"p. 122","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.182:1-2019","IS.182:2-2019"],"accessionNumberNum":"182","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":2019,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2015-04-29","availableToBook":true}}