Gallery

Comments

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  Eva Baby July 31, 2013 at 8:36am

  I like that! Generally I do not like piercings, but such a nose ring is beautiful and I would even wear it!
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  Patricia Deany July 31, 2013 at 1:19pm

  Would you wear it in your nose? ( I am only asking because those piercings always look so heavy and painful) I also know that these are so heavy that they are often supported in the nose by chains running up into the headdress.
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  Patricia Deany July 31, 2013 at 1:21pm

  Here is a pic of nath and chain
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  Jaina Mishra July 31, 2013 at 1:34pm

  Yes - it is worn on the nose. In the blog there are some images of paintings of women who wore these. Couldn't see the photo you posted.
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  Jaina Mishra July 31, 2013 at 1:36pm

  Yes - I see the photo now. Yes in this case the chain is added and is attached to the hair just above the ear. Reminds me of my own wedding jewelry!
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  Alaa eddine SAGID July 31, 2013 at 2:30pm

  love the grape like pearls setting

  From your experience, how would you compare old nose rings with newly made ones? My understanding is that these are still being made and used?

  Thanx
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  Jaina Mishra July 31, 2013 at 4:08pm

  Hello Ayis, Yes noserings are still being made and are integral parts of bridal jewelry in some parts of India. But, the workmanship, the style and the materials being used are very different in the new pieces.

  Old ones such as these have Basra pearls and the wiring looks 'untidy' for want of a better word. There are iron wires or silver wires in old pieces. While a skilled artisan can easily reproduce a piece using old pearls and call ti antique, there is no real marked price difference between the old and the new so there is no financial incentive for him to call it old. Further although India is known to be the largest consumer of gold, in the Indian psychology there is a negative attached to using pieces that have been used by others as their luck (which is generally assumed to be negative) might rub off onto the new wearer. The only valued pieces are the ones that come from family. But there is a general taboo about buying used ornaments and used textiles.

  And as a result, the tragedy is that when a family sells old jewelry to the jeweler at the end of the road, the jeweler is usually compelled to have the piece melted as there are few takers for the old piece in its existing form. And so, we recover the material but lose the form and the art embedded in the old pieces. Quite a tragedy! 

  The point I started out to make,  is that there is no market for old jewelry and much less so for replicas.

  But some of the new pieces have artistic values of their own and it is certainly an art that is thriving and evolving.
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  Jaina Mishra July 31, 2013 at 4:11pm

  This is a picture of the second nath - in which the 3-dimensional plan is visible clearly. In the earlier picture it just looked like a cluster of pearls, but when seen this way, the artist's plan is clearly visible.
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  Alaa eddine SAGID July 31, 2013 at 4:42pm

  Thanx Jaina for your insights, the 3d picture is clearly showing the construction and the smiths will.

  Again this nose ring is beautiful and so are these baroque pearls
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  Eva Baby July 31, 2013 at 8:53pm

  thanks for the second pic in the comment, very nice to see the construction of the item! Beautiful to see the pearls "falling". Yes, Patty. I always wanted to wear one, but only a small one. But I would be afraid of making the hole, as I heard it is a difficult place (one could hit nerves that are important, or whatsoever.....). Today perhaps it is too late..