Necklace
ca. 1865 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Tiger claws were regarded as charms against evil in India and were originally used as amulets. In her 1850 autobiography, Mrs Fanny Parkes, an English woman who lived in India between 1822 and 1846, describes observing and copying this custom. Tiger-claw jewellery was also made for the British, perhaps as an exotic souvenir of their lives in India. This necklace would have been made in India for the European market rather than for traditional use, and was bought from the Paris International Exhibition in 1867.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Tiger claws and gold |
| Brief description | Tiger claw necklace, India, about 1865 |
| Physical description | Ten tiger claws, graded in size, set in engraved gold and linked by chains, suspended from a 'snake' chain |
| Dimensions |
|
| Object history | Bought from the Paris Exhibition, 1867, where it was described as 'modern work'. |
| Summary | Tiger claws were regarded as charms against evil in India and were originally used as amulets. In her 1850 autobiography, Mrs Fanny Parkes, an English woman who lived in India between 1822 and 1846, describes observing and copying this custom. Tiger-claw jewellery was also made for the British, perhaps as an exotic souvenir of their lives in India. This necklace would have been made in India for the European market rather than for traditional use, and was bought from the Paris International Exhibition in 1867. |
| Bibliographic reference | 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.84
STRONGE, Susan, Nima Smith and James Harle, A Golden Treasury. Jewellery from the Indian subcontinent, London, 1988, catalogue number 76, p.84
For information on Victorian tiger-claw jewellery, see also:
UNTRACHT, Oppi, Traditional Jewelry of India, Thames and Hudson, London, 1997, pp.95 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 594-1868 |
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| Record created | February 26, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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