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Not currently on display at the V&A

Nose Ring

20th century (made)
Place of origin

The gold nose ring, nath, is decorated with a compact design of seed pearls, glass beads and applied mounted ornamental elements set with glass. The ring is made from a ring of gold wire with a hook at one end and a twisted wire eye at the other. The gold wire of the ring is beaten along the arc of the lower half onto which are slotted three different silver settings (namely, a peacock, a flower on a crescent and a tear-drop) mounted with coloured glass in blue, red, green and colourless glass insets set in lac and gold foil. The central mount has a fringe of gold balls sitting in silver cups and threaded onto silver wire with silver and red and green glass bead finials. A network of similar beads on wire is twisted round the ring on either side and interspersed on the right hand side among the rows of tiny seed pearls which largely fill the centre of the ring. Three tear-drop mounts inset with green and red glass are attached to the face of the pearls by means of plaited silver wire laid across the back and twisted onto the loop of the ring on the front's left hand side where there is a series of a pair of granulated silver rings, a pair of silver beads centred on a red glass bead.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold, silver, glass and pearls, gold foil and lac.
Brief description
Nose ring, nath, from central India
Physical description
The gold nose ring, nath, is decorated with a compact design of seed pearls, glass beads and applied mounted ornamental elements set with glass. The ring is made from a ring of gold wire with a hook at one end and a twisted wire eye at the other. The gold wire of the ring is beaten along the arc of the lower half onto which are slotted three different silver settings (namely, a peacock, a flower on a crescent and a tear-drop) mounted with coloured glass in blue, red, green and colourless glass insets set in lac and gold foil. The central mount has a fringe of gold balls sitting in silver cups and threaded onto silver wire with silver and red and green glass bead finials. A network of similar beads on wire is twisted round the ring on either side and interspersed on the right hand side among the rows of tiny seed pearls which largely fill the centre of the ring. Three tear-drop mounts inset with green and red glass are attached to the face of the pearls by means of plaited silver wire laid across the back and twisted onto the loop of the ring on the front's left hand side where there is a series of a pair of granulated silver rings, a pair of silver beads centred on a red glass bead.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 13.1g
  • Height: 5cm
  • Width: 5.4cm
Credit line
Given by Dr W. Ganguly
Object history
This nose ring 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 bought from Amrapali in December 2008 for 390 Euros.
Bibliographic references
  • Ganguly, W., Nose Rings of India, Delhi, 2015 p.121, illus.
  • Indian folk jewellery : designs and techniques / Waltraud Ganguly. Number: 9789350502129, 9350502127 p.43, illus.
Collection
Accession number
IS.98-2019

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Record createdApril 29, 2015
Record URL
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