A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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Could be Buddhist amulet cases -- gau
Yes, these look like women's Llasa-style ga'us. 19century. But the hooks for hanging need to be at the top and the dorjes at the bottom.
Yes Tibetan Ghau
Thanx ladies.
I was presuming these to come from tibet but no idea on age!!
Late 19th or early 20th c made up to time Dalai Llama fled,, wearing was not possible easily within Tibet after wards but these were used all over Northern India ,, Ladakh, Himachel to some extent, Sikkim, Nepal. Style of the box indicates usually where they are from however some are rather generic and do look similar to Tibetan.. Lynn Levenberg a member of sight is writing about gaus and might know exactly where they are from. The problem though is that things are made some times in one place and then the style gets copied or adapted else where. Since there are ;pockets of Tibetan communities living in various hill stations under Tibet proper also this style was used in many areas. The fact that they are silver and not gold attests to them being used by less wealthy individuals and in the small villages. These are both old and real and used as such and are not fakes which much of the Tibetan jewelry on the market is now.
Linda says it all, as far as I am concerned! An excellent, comprehensive and factual account.
Hi Ayis, on this photo you can see the lady wearing similar shaped gau on a necklace.
Yes, they're both old Tibetan gaus that were made in Central Tibet. The work is too crude to have been made in Lhasa, however. They were probably made in Tsang Province, S. Tibet. However, you photographed them wrong. The vajra (Tibetan: Dorje) on a Tibetan gau always goes on the bottom. At the top is a hollow tube for a necklace. Gaus with vajras on the bottom were only worn by women. These are both silver or copper, so they belonged to humble women. Noblewomen only wore gold gaus. Because the four appendages on the sides are quite pointed, these date to the 1910s. When the appendages are rounded, they date from the 19th century, like the one the S. Tibetan or Bhutia woman in Howah's picture is wearing. I seem to remember that this picture dates from the 1880's. Perhaps Howah can give us the source & date of the picture. The gau on the left has a turquoise flower in the middle while the one on the right has a Treasure vase (Tib: Bumpa). The four red triangles on the left hand gau are not made of glass. They are lac, which once held more turquoises that have now fallen out. Linda, why was wearing gaus not easily possible after the 13th Dalai Lama fled?
Except, of course, I do know that the gau is a representation of a deity... Lord Shiva .. which makes it slightly different from the gaus which Alaa has shown. But does this make a difference to the position of the vajra?
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