MEDIA INFORMATION

 
 
 
COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.1981.398.3-4
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Costume and Jewelry
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Indian Sub-Continent; Indian
Creator Name-CRT:
Indian
Title:
A pair of royal earrings
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
ca. 1st century B.C.
Creation Start Date:
-21
Creation End Date:
19
Materials and Techniques:
Gold
Classification Term:
Jewelry
Dimensions:
Each H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm), W. 3 in. (7.6 cm), L. 1 9/16 in. (4 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
1981.398.3-4
Credit Line:
Gift of The Kronos Collections, 1981
Rights:
Context:

The place of these earrings in the history of Indian art is assured, not only for their intrinsic beauty but also because of the light they shed on the superb quality of goldsmithing early in this region. Early Indian statues of both male and female figures were usually portrayed wearing elaborate jewelry that sometimes seemed fanciful, since very little comparable jewelry from that period survives. The discovery of this pair of earrings provided the first tangible evidence that the jewelry depicted by sculptors was in fact based on real models, for a very similar pair is shown on a first century B.C. relief portrait of a 'Universal Ruler' (chakravartin), from Jaggayapeta. These earrings, judging from their material worth, excellence of craftsmanship, and use of royal emblems (a winged lion and an elephant) as part of their design, were most probably made as royal commissions. Each earring is composed of two rectangular, budlike forms growing outward from a central, double-stemmed tendril. The elephant and the lion of repoussé gold are consummately detailed, using granules, snippets of wire and sheet, and individually forged and hammered pieces of gold. The two pieces are not exactly identical: on the underside they are both decorated with a classical early Indian design of a vase containing three palmettes, but the patterning of the fronds differentiates them. They are so large and heavy that they must have distended the earlobes and rested on the shoulders of the wearer, like the pair worn by the 'Universal Ruler.'

Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.as1981.398.3.-4.R.tif

A pair of royal earrings

A pair of royal earrings