Enquiry about object: 6552
Rajasthani Pair of Silver ‘Sun-Burst’ Bracelets (Kada or Bangri Gokru)
Rajasthan, India early 20th century
external diameter: 11cm, internal diameter: 7.3cm, thickness: 0.8cm, combined weight: 189g
Provenance
private collection, Netherlands
This pair of silver bangles in a star-burst design often were worn in Rajasthan at the end of the wrist to retain myriad other bangles and to hold them in place. Otherwise, they were worn towards the upper arm.
They comprise an inner band from which 33 hollow silver spheres radiate, each being attached by means of a column and then being soldered to the adjacent sphere. Another sphere forms the finial over the closing mechanism atop a silver petal-form roundel,
Each opens with a hinge mechanism.
A similar pair are illustrated in Nadler (2005, p. 178).
References
Nadler, D. & S., Silver: From Fetish to Fashion, PDN Publishing, 2005.
Seligman, T., & U. R. Balakrishnan, Enduring Splendor: Jewelry of India’s Thar Desert, Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2017.
