Hair Ornament (Nagar)

This gold hair ornament would have been worn on the back of the head to adorn the top of a plait, or braid. The iconography features a Hindu goddess (probably Lakshmi, her two upper arms holding blooming lotus flowers) seated beneath a multi-headed snake canopy. This iconography refers to Lakshmi as Vishnu’s consort, where the two reclined in the cosmic ocean under the multiheaded snake Ananta Sesha. Monstrous mask-like faces (kirtimukha) are found at the center and bottom of the jewel and are well-known apotropaic motifs in south India.





This ornament was formerly in the collection of American artist and designer Lockwood de Forest (1850–1932) who purchased many jeweled objects while traveling in India between 1879–1881. Today, his collection of Indian jewelry in the Met serves as a near-comprehensive assemblage of late nineteenth century bodily adornment.