This spectacular pair of earrings is a rare survival of ancient Indian goldsmithing, much of which was repurposed by later generations. Double-ended tendrils such as these, passed through distended earlobes, are referred to in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata as being worn by the hero Arjuna while in female disguise. The same style of jewelry is frequently depicted in early Satavahana sculpture. Together with gemstone and ivory carvers, potters, and weavers, goldsmiths were an important part of early India’s craft guild structure, and inscriptions often name them as donors to Buddhist causes. The only other examples of this ear ornament type were recovered in the Thai peninsula, an indication of early Satavahana trade with Southeast Asia.
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Artwork Details
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Title:One from a Pair of Ear Ornaments (Prakaravapra Kundala)
Period:Satavahana
Date:ca. 1st century BCE–1st century CE
Culture:India, Andhra Pradesh
Medium:Gold, sheet, wire and granulation
Dimensions:H. 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm); W. 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); L. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
Classification:Jewelry
Credit Line:Gift of John and Evelyn Kossak, The Kronos Collections, 1981
Accession Number:1981.398.4
John and Evelyn Kossak , New York (until 1981; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Flame and the Lotus," September 20, 1984–March 3, 1985.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West," October 3, 2000–January 14, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jewelry: The Body Transformed," November 12, 2018–February 24, 2019.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, p. 247, fig. 17.
Martin Lerner. The Flame and the Lotus: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Kronos Collections. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, pp. 20–21, cat. no. 2.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Asia. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987, pp. 118–19, pl. 75.
Susan Stronge, J. C. Harle, and Nima Smith. A Golden Treasury: Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent. Exh. cat. New York: Rizzoli International Publications in assoc. w.V&A Museum & Grantha Corp., 1988, p. 12, fig. 2.
Postel, Michel. Ear Ornaments of Ancient India. Bombay, India: Project for Indian Cultural Studies, 1989, pp. 34–35, figs. A–C.
McConnell, Sophie. Metropolitan Jewelry. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, pp. 61, 109.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 99, fig. 17.
Stronge, Susan, ed. The Jewels of India. Mumbai: Marg Publications, 1995, pp. 20, 22, fig. 4.
Untracht, Oppi. Traditional Jewelry of India. Hong Kong: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997, p. 292, fig. 693.
Bala Krishnan, Usha R. Dance of the Peacock: Jewelry Traditions of India. Mumbai: India Book House, 1999, pp. 65–66, fig. 74b.
Elizabeth J. Milleker, ed. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, p. 141, fig. 101.
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