A GARLAND-TYPE GOLD NECKLACE, PROBABLY SOUTH INDIA

Imbued with auspicious and protective qualities, there exists a long history of wearing jewellery in India; gold was considered a particularly purifying element (M. E. Aitken, When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection, Asia Society Museum, 14 September 2004 - 23 January 2005, p. 9). As Molly Emma Aitken notes: "In pre-modern India, a defiant warrior who was brought to heel expressed his submission by removing his weapons and jewelry. An ascetic renounces jewelry as part of a larger letting go of worldly ties...." (ibid. p.9). Historically, both male and female Gods were richly adorned with jewels which covered almost every part of their body, as exemplified by a sandstone sculpture of Lakshmi-Narayana from Madhya Pradesh, attributed to the second half eleventh century and illustrated in this catalogue (see Gods, Guardians and Lovers: Temple Sculptures from North India, 700 – 1200 AD, eds. V. Desai and D. Mason, The Asia Society Galleries, New York, in association with Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad, pp. 183-4, no. 26). In Indian religious architecture "the culture treated stupas and temples as living entities, to be honored and adorned like kings or gods with flowers and gold. Ornament-including jewelry forms-played up this metaphoric animation of stone" (Aitken 2005, p.12). 

This impressive gold necklace of modern manufacture falls into this tradition; it covers most of the frontal body and was probably inspired by presentation garland necklaces from Tamil Nadu usually prepared with natural materials such as musk, spices, cloves and tinsel. For an example, see O. Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, London, 1997, pp. 370-1, no. 806.