Oliver White
Head of Department
Lot 233
A large silver-mounted rudraksha bead Necklace (Gowrishankaram) Southern India, 18th Century
Withdrawn
Amended
8 April 2014, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£10,000 - £15,000
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A large silver-mounted rudraksha bead Necklace (Gowrishankaram)
Southern India, 18th Century
Southern India, 18th Century
comprising a large silver pendant with scrolling floral decoration worked in repoussé around a central shrine with Shiva and Gowri seated on Nandi, the bull vehicle of Shiva, the pendant surmounted with a ruby-set finial; a silver amulet box suspended below, set with a small central emerald, with three terminals in the form of temple spires; the pendant suspended on a necklace of rudraksha beads alternating with metal spacers, the silver clasp with repoussé scrolling floral motifs surrounding a small seated figure of Ganesha on a double lotus throne
the necklace 31 cm. long approx.; the pendant 16 cm. wide
the necklace 31 cm. long approx.; the pendant 16 cm. wide
Footnotes
Provenance: Private English collection.
The gowrishankaram, also known as gowrisangam, is one of the most important and impressive of all neck ornaments from Tamil Nadu in South India. It is also one of the relatively few items of jewellery intended exclusively for men. The term gowrishankaram is derived from Gowri, another name for Parvati, the consort of Shiva; Shankara is another name for Shiva. Sangam means coming together and the necklace symbolises the union between male and female.
In Tamil Nadu, the necklace is especially important to men of the Chettiar community, who are devotees of Shiva, and to the priests of the temple of Nataraja at Chidambaram. Worshippers of Shiva see wearing the gowrishankaram as a means of harnessing the energies of the creative process. Necklaces such as these also serve as portable shrines for devotees. The hollow amulet is intended to hold a special miniature lingam.
There is a comparable example of a gowrishankaram with a gold pendant and amulet in the collections of the Musée Barbier-Mueller in Geneva (no. 2504 - 102).
Saleroom notices
This lot has been withdrawn.