Not currently on display at the V&A

Necklet

ca. 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This necklace, with its gold chain of interlocking scales, is an Indian adaptation of the serpent jewellery that was popular in early Victorian England and was probably made in about 1850. An English serpent necklace or bracelet would usually fasten by looping the articulated scaly body over the reptile's head. On this piece, the chain is in two sections, each terminating in a wolf head. The teeth of each head are enamelled in white, the ears in red, and the eyes are set with rubies. They hold rings between their teeth to which are linked spheres covered with pave-set pearls separated by minute gold granules. Between the pearl-set spheres is a single sphere set with turquoises in the same technique. The clasp is a hook that loops into a ring set on a swivel post.
The necklace was acquired by the Indian Museum in London in 1855 and was transferred to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1879.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold, pave-set with pearls and turquoises
Brief description
2 serpents; Jewellery, gold pearls turquoises, Bengal
Physical description
The gold necklace has a scale pattern chain in two sections, each terminating in a wolf head linked to three spheres between them. The wolf heads have teeth enamelled in white, ears enamelled in red, and ruby-set eyes. Each head is linked to a sphere with pave set pearls, and there is a third sphere with pave set turquoises in between.
Object history
Acquired in 1855, probably from the Exposition Universelle, Paris.
Summary
This necklace, with its gold chain of interlocking scales, is an Indian adaptation of the serpent jewellery that was popular in early Victorian England and was probably made in about 1850. An English serpent necklace or bracelet would usually fasten by looping the articulated scaly body over the reptile's head. On this piece, the chain is in two sections, each terminating in a wolf head. The teeth of each head are enamelled in white, the ears in red, and the eyes are set with rubies. They hold rings between their teeth to which are linked spheres covered with pave-set pearls separated by minute gold granules. Between the pearl-set spheres is a single sphere set with turquoises in the same technique. The clasp is a hook that loops into a ring set on a swivel post.
The necklace was acquired by the Indian Museum in London in 1855 and was transferred to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1879.
Bibliographic references
  • Susan Stronge, Nima Smith, and J.C. Harle. A Golden Treasury : Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent London : Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 1988. ISBN: 0944142168 p.86
  • Arts of Bengal : the heritage of Bangladesh and eastern India : an exhibition organized by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum : 9 November-30 December 1979, Whitechapel Art Gallery ..., 12 January-17 February 1980, Manchester City Art Gallery ... . [London]: Whitechapel Art Gallery, [1979] Number: 085488047X (pbk.) : p.73
Collection
Accession number
03238(IS)

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Record createdSeptember 14, 2005
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