Bracelet, One of a Pair

These colorful jewels may have been worn as bracelets or anklets. The polychrome appearance gives the impression of an opulent jewel with vibrant and brilliant gemstones, but this object is instead fabricated of silver topped with colored enamel. Flat cut colorless sapphire gemstones are shaped and set in a manner to imitate polki diamonds, or flat cuts that were popular in India since the seventeenth century.

This ornament was formerly in the collection of American artist and designer Lockwood de Forest (1850–1932) who purchased many items while traveling in India between 1879–1881. He collected many different examples of jewelry from India, sometimes several of the same type. Today, his assemblage in the Met serves as an in-depth study collection of Indian jewelry from the late nineteenth century.