The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2023

Necklace Bead and Pair of Pendants in the Shape of an Auspicious Symbol

c. 150 BC

Part of a set. See all set records

India, Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh, Shunga Period

(c. 187-78 BC)

Gold

John L. Severance Fund 1973.66

Location

242A Ancient India

Description

These exceptionally fine pieces of gold jewelry would have been strung on a necklace. The auspicious symbols on either side of the egg-shaped bead are in the form of full blown lotus flowers with the seed pods carefully detailed, and trident-shaped forms decorated with stylized palmette motifs emanate down from the lotuses.

Provenance
?-1973
(William H. Wolff [1906-1991], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1973-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
"The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. Mentioned: no. 180, p. 79; Reproduced: no. 180, p. 58 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 286 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 11 archive.org
Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 110–111
Sengupta, Arputha Rani. Buddhist Jewels in Mortuary Cult: Magic Symbols. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 2019. Reproduced: Vol. 1, P. 28, fig. 1.46; Vol. 2, P. 520, fig. a; Mentioned: Vol. 1, P. 25
Exhibition history

Science within Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-April 20, 1980).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.66