
Two gold body coverings (kavacham) Tamil Nadu, South India, 19th/ 20th Century(2)
Sold for £12,750 inc. premium
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Two gold body coverings (kavacham)
Tamil Nadu, South India, 19th/ 20th Century
Tamil Nadu, South India, 19th/ 20th Century
the larger 17.3 cm. high; 232g. total weight (2)
Footnotes
Exclusively intended for statues of gods and goddesses in temples, these body coverings are known as kavacham, or 'shields' in South India. These gold kavacham would have provided rich coverings for the stone or bronze images of deities they once adorned. When the kavacham had been fitted onto the image of the deity, they would have been decorated with flowers and jewels and processed around the temple.
For a comparable pair of kavacham made from sheet gold, dating to the 19th century, now in the Musee Barbier-Mueller in Geneva (inv.no.2504-127 A&B), see U.R. Balakrishnan, M.S. Kumar, Indian Jewellery - Dance of the Peacock, Mumbai, 2001, pg.287, ill.486.