2012.46 Marriage necklace

This elaborate necklace is a fine example of a ritual necklace made for a bride among the Chettiar people of Tamil Nadu in south India. At the marriage, the groom would place the necklace around the bride's neck. It was a dowry given to the bride by her family and was seldom worn after the marriage ceremony. The elaborate ornaments, including the four hand-like decorations symbolizing the joined hands of the bride and groom, generally represent the union of the humans with the god Shiva, whom the Chettiar worshipped. The deer and lion imagery on the necklace is associated with Shiva and and his wife, Parvati/Durga. 

Tamil Nadu: TGN: 7001797

India (nation): TGN: 7000198

gold (metal): AAT: 300011021

nineteenth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404513

brides: AAT: 300343613

deer: AAT: 300250308

Durga (Hindu deity): DMA

hands (animal or human components): AAT: 300310193

Hinduism: AAT: 300073727

jewelry: AAT: 300209286

lions (animals/panthera leo species): AAT: 300310388

marriage (social construct): AAT: 300055475

necklaces: AAT: 300046001

Parvati (Hindu deity): DMA

ritual objects: AAT: 300312158

Shiva (Hindu deity): DMA

weddings (ceremonies): AAT: 300069158

1970s-1999: Ella (Ivory) Freidus 

From 1999: son of Ella Freidus [1]

By at least 2012: Tambaran Gallery, New York

From 2012: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of David T. Owsley honoring Dr. Anne Bromberg via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation and the Cecil and Ida Green Acquisition Fund, purchase from above

The main source for this provenance is the Dallas Museum of Art object summary dated October 8, 2013, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted. 

[1] See the provenance notes included on the invoice from Tambaran Gallery dated November 6, 2012.

13310461: UMO

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