Not currently on display at the V&A

Nose Ring

20th century (made)
Place of origin

A large gold nose ring, nath, with a pendant jhumka. It has a thick gold wire loop with a hook at the bottom which slots into a twisted wire eye made from the other end of the loop. The right hand side of the loop is thinner and is threaded with a series of decorative elements of granulated rings, some ornamented with rings of seed pearls, a faceted red glass bead and a granulated disc inside a circle of pearls. This disc is made up of concentric circles of tiny granulations, fine gold wire and small gold discs applied to openwork wire rings with a red glass stone in the centre. This disc can swivel on the loop and has a green glass stone in a circular bezel in the centre of the back through which the loop of the nose ring passes. At the extreme end by the eye of the loop there is a pendant jhumka (bell-shaped ornament) made gold wirework ornamented with applied die-stamped lozenges of simulated granulations above two rows of seed pearls fixed to a base metal dome which is obscured by an encircling cluster of pearls each threaded with beaded wire on either side and terminating with a tiny green glass bead.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold, pearls and glass. Wirework, die-stamping and granulation.
Brief description
nose ring, nath, from central India
Physical description
A large gold nose ring, nath, with a pendant jhumka. It has a thick gold wire loop with a hook at the bottom which slots into a twisted wire eye made from the other end of the loop. The right hand side of the loop is thinner and is threaded with a series of decorative elements of granulated rings, some ornamented with rings of seed pearls, a faceted red glass bead and a granulated disc inside a circle of pearls. This disc is made up of concentric circles of tiny granulations, fine gold wire and small gold discs applied to openwork wire rings with a red glass stone in the centre. This disc can swivel on the loop and has a green glass stone in a circular bezel in the centre of the back through which the loop of the nose ring passes. At the extreme end by the eye of the loop there is a pendant jhumka (bell-shaped ornament) made gold wirework ornamented with applied die-stamped lozenges of simulated granulations above two rows of seed pearls fixed to a base metal dome which is obscured by an encircling cluster of pearls each threaded with beaded wire on either side and terminating with a tiny green glass bead.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 27.9g
  • Length: 9.2cm (Note: including pendant)
  • Width: 6.5cm
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 purchased from the German dealer, Hans Weihreter, in Augsburg in 1996 for D.M. 2950.
Bibliographic reference
Ganguly, W., Nose Rings of India, Delhi, 2015 p.114, illus.
Collection
Accession number
IS.421-2019

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Record createdJune 23, 2015
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