Enamelled Gold Kavach Pendent with Suspended Pearls for a Krishna Devotee, India, 19th century

Enamelled Gold Kavach Pendent with Suspended Pearls for a Krishna Devotee

Jaipur or Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India

19th century

length: 3.5cm, width: 2.6cm, weight: 2g

This fine pendant of thin, solid sheet gold with applied gold eyelets is enamelled on both sides in green, red, blue and cream. Two small pearls are suspended from the pendant, secured by gold wire.

It is enamelled on one side with a pair of footprints (padaka or charan) of the deity – in this case Krishna – and these are decorated with auspicious symbols such as a banner, a mace, a swastika and the sun. Birds, foliage and flowers surround the footprints.

The other side of the pendant is decorated with more birds and a central roundel enamelled with devanagari script.

Such a pendant was worn by a Shri Nath-ji devotee associated with the Shri Nath-ji Temple at Nathdwara in Rajasthan by the Vallabhacharya sect.

The pendant is in excellent and wearable condition.

References

Bala Krishnan, U.R. et al, Icons in Gold: Jewelry of India from the Collection of the Musee Barbier-Mueller, Somogy, 2005.

Jain-Neubauer, J., Feet & Footwear in Indian Culture, Bata Shoe Museum/Mapin, 2000.

Untracht, O., Traditional Jewelry of India, Thames & Hudson, 1997.

Provenance

UK art market

Inventory no.: 3752

SOLD