Pair of Earrings with Vishnu Riding Garuda

1600s or 1700s

Medium

Gold set with precious and semiprecious stones

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1915.342

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Location

237 Himalayan

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Did You Know?

The father of Jeptha Homer Wade II (1857–1926), who owned these earrings, gave the land for the museum and Wade Oval.

Description

These earrings were made to hang on large bronze sculptures of deities worshipped in Nepalese temples. Nepalese craftsmen excelled at the detailed encrustation of jewels to depict complex figural imagery. They shaped gold wires into a framework, then inserted polished stones into the spaces, held in place with an adhesive. Four-armed Vishnu is made of sapphires; his mount the man-eagle appears to be made of carnelian and spinel with wings of turquoise.