An appreciation of ethnic jewellery and adornment

Hair ornament, south India

Hair ornament made to sit on top of a bun. The flowers and jasmine buds sit on a backing of silver.

Gold, silver, semi precious stones. 10 grams.

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Comment by Peter Hoesli on May 31, 2013 at 17:05: Beautiful Preethi - this piece is very elegant! Regards. Peter

Comment by Preethi on May 31, 2013 at 8:39: Thanks everyone.

Thelma, there are no strict rules on inscriptions - depends on the space available, and whatever feels right to the one giving the present. There could be dates, words like 'Best wishes', name of the one giving the present, name of the one getting the present....

This is a vintage hair pin, possibly from the 50's - 60's. One of my aunts said that they would order these specially from Kerala at the time. Similar crescent-shaped pins with longer stalks, were popular in Goa - these were inspired by the Portuguese fashion. Those were in silver though. My guess is that the style crept further south along the coast and perhaps in other Portuguese areas, and was produced in gold, which is much more in demand in most of the south.

Comment by Eva Baby on May 31, 2013 at 8:01: Very nice piece! Thanks also for the photo of the backside, very interesting! Like it a lot.

Comment by Thelma on May 31, 2013 at 7:55: That is really interesting, Preethi. I have a silver vase from Mumbai which is signed under the rim and dated 5 May 1964. I thought it was a mark of ownership. But now I realise it mght have been a present. And I have other objects in pewter from Selangor, Malaysia which were given to me as presents and have been engraved with my name. It's all a bit confusing and obviously subject to local interpretation.

Comment by Preethi on May 31, 2013 at 5:15: An inscription on the back of the ornament, possibly names of a person/family, may mean that this was a present. In south India, we have the custom of inscribing presents (steel, silver, copper, brass utensils or ornaments) with the name of the person/family who gave the present. Such items are given at important social occasions - coming of age ceremonies, weddings, naming ceremonies, 60th birthday ceremonies, and a few others.

Here's a picture of the back of the ornament.