Important Notice

Gold and ruby

20th century
Tamil Nadu


This unusual 'milligai arumbumalai' or jasmine flower bud necklace is accented with rubies and has a flexible chain set with gold connectors. The individual 'buds' or elements are crafted with such "precision and exactitude that they appear machine made...It was believed that such necklaces of jasmine buds imbued the wearer with the beauty, delicacy and the heady fragrance of the flower...As a symbol of grace and elegance, the jasmine flower is ubiquitous in jewellery and stylized representations can be necklaces, ear jewels, bangles and as decorative motifs etched in gold or in enamel. In old photographs it is not unusual to find temple dancers wearing [such] magnificent necklaces" (Lawrence Mattet ed., Icons in Gold: Jewelry of India from the Collection of the Musée Barbier- Muller, Somogy Art Publishers, Paris, 2005, p. 130, 132).


Gold and ruby

20th century
Tamil Nadu


This unusual 'milligai arumbumalai' or jasmine flower bud necklace is accented with rubies and has a flexible chain set with gold connectors. The individual 'buds' or elements are crafted with such "precision and exactitude that they appear machine made...It was believed that such necklaces of jasmine buds imbued the wearer with the beauty, delicacy and the heady fragrance of the flower...As a symbol of grace and elegance, the jasmine flower is ubiquitous in jewellery and stylized representations can be necklaces, ear jewels, bangles and as decorative motifs etched in gold or in enamel. In old photographs it is not unusual to find temple dancers wearing [such] magnificent necklaces" (Lawrence Mattet ed., Icons in Gold: Jewelry of India from the Collection of the Musée Barbier- Muller, Somogy Art Publishers, Paris, 2005, p. 130, 132).