Nose Ring thumbnail 1
Not on display

Nose Ring

20th century (made)
Place of origin

A large gold nath made in two semi-circular arcs. The upper arc is a gold wire with a double coiled eye linked to the lower arc on the left hand side with the other end to be fastened through the right nostril of the wearer and slotted into a short cylindrical length on the right hand side. The upper portion is decorated along its length with a variety of imitation coral beads, white translucent beads (formerly with a nacreous finish) held between openwork granulated cups, spacers made of seed pearls and floral elements with buttas set with red, orange and green glass in settings with granulated borders. A pendant motif is slotted onto the ring. It has an openwork abstract floral design resting on a crescent with kundan settings of coloured glass and it has the remnants of a fringe of seed pearls with dangling gold leaflets that were fixed onto the back of the setting with fine gold wire twisted through little soldered cylinders of gold sheet. Only six of an original fifteen leaflets have survived.
The lower portion of the ring is made of a square-sectioned arc of gold with a flanged border of minute granulation. The arc supports a row of rings through which are threaded concave shaped leaflets on coils of gold wire, each with a seed pearl sandwiched between a pair of tiny granulated discs. The front of the leaflets have a copper-coloured finish as do all the granulated borders of the decorative elements of the ring.

Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold, pearls, imitation pearls and coral, glass wirework and granulation
Brief description
Gold nose ring, nath, from Himachal Pradesh
Physical description
A large gold nath made in two semi-circular arcs. The upper arc is a gold wire with a double coiled eye linked to the lower arc on the left hand side with the other end to be fastened through the right nostril of the wearer and slotted into a short cylindrical length on the right hand side. The upper portion is decorated along its length with a variety of imitation coral beads, white translucent beads (formerly with a nacreous finish) held between openwork granulated cups, spacers made of seed pearls and floral elements with buttas set with red, orange and green glass in settings with granulated borders. A pendant motif is slotted onto the ring. It has an openwork abstract floral design resting on a crescent with kundan settings of coloured glass and it has the remnants of a fringe of seed pearls with dangling gold leaflets that were fixed onto the back of the setting with fine gold wire twisted through little soldered cylinders of gold sheet. Only six of an original fifteen leaflets have survived.
The lower portion of the ring is made of a square-sectioned arc of gold with a flanged border of minute granulation. The arc supports a row of rings through which are threaded concave shaped leaflets on coils of gold wire, each with a seed pearl sandwiched between a pair of tiny granulated discs. The front of the leaflets have a copper-coloured finish as do all the granulated borders of the decorative elements of the ring.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 40g
  • Height: 13.2cm
  • Width: 11.5cm
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 the dealer, Michael Beste in December 2010 for 4500 Euros.
Bibliographic references
  • Ganguly, W., Nose Rings of India, Delhi, 2015 p. 56, illus.
  • Indian folk jewellery : designs and techniques / Waltraud Ganguly. Number: 9789350502129, 9350502127 p.77-78, illus.
Collection
Accession number
IS.122-2019

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Record createdApril 29, 2015
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