Necklace Inscribed with the Name of King Pratapamalladeva

Art Institute of Chicago

Necklace Inscribed with the Name of King Pratapamalladeva

NepalLinkedCulture matchlcp-b0908254126b

Date
About 1650
Medium
Gilt copper with semiprecious stones
Culture
Kathmandu Valley
Department
Arts of Asia
Institution
Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID
130700

This ornament may have been given by King Pratapamalla (r. 1641–74), ruler of the Malla dynasty of Nepal, to Taleju Bhavani, the revered patron goddess of the old palace in Kathmandu and the chief protective deity of Nepal and its royal family. King Pratapamalla may also have worn this collar when he participated in rituals. This complex piece is composed of five principal strands and bears the inscription: “Victory to the Mother-Goddess [ Bhagavati devi Janani ]. Hail! [This] is the necklace of the king of kings, lord of kings, lord of the poets, the victorious Pratapamalladeva (may it be) auspicious!” The two innermost strands resemble rudraksha beads, made from the seeds of a large evergreen tree whose berries are commonly made into rosaries of 108 beads. Such prayer beads are most often worn by Shaivite ascetics, either around the neck or woven into their topknots. The third and fourth strands consist of tubular forms in a crescent shape known as hansuli . Each terminates in elaborate clasps, with the inner strand attached to a central amulet case. The outermost ring contains thirteen images of deities, including roundels of the eight mothers ( ashtamatrikas ), each depicted as the goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon (Mahishasura). As this necklace was a royal commission, the finest Newari artists would have crafted it.

View at Art Institute of Chicago ↗

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Get printable QR codes

Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.

Open this page QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.BFs2WMxfGrPMBKQ4.gs6NiMEFfL2mr3zrlG1xQUqpoul0NFwjcz8Lsj23G-GhrTdTnU_iFGUXlRhPwd_rt0HZhnDoly6C0iUJdDVNHcVgYjdRIqCnxCV1N36le3rZ385g9RnCnnyn7HChwpNrcMIna-0PyJEdvDCv0usL87loa2NIJihEdTsm_HrsUTrtMu1jd2lNFv-rec1qERrV4zaWwIrNXktcR-gduTD4AklSaFcgpGdSjuUduqbjrmJEFraatICU_w2LW3J_7GNjmSaiBXdiVBpK8eI99oAYAS7_p80dSee at Art Institute of Chicago QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.GIFvSRQJa2kmRoLI.LoP5PQvD3ad8Ne7No3zIbVSIF0zcPSii3-DdG8SJatskFGIqLY3x_dWIhE8erl5wsQBBWZMahhkTn8oOsCLjmszuzTUnf2IWMA4jwx8ljeS_v42bF_cEbk92BW-DElU6uqqZG2plfsiV1TwtA2UMfwui_pY-UsL9eW3PxSVypGLFZrxHcZ4BAvIEklI0HVkjKKZQq_w0nSD_zKk15JgXGdZT_59Y_mavWWXaLUviGSYtSwbsnmOJot-QHEJzFEQcncJzwuok6kAHupDukTOaAGXF0Q
Open this page
See at Art Institute of Chicago

Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line
Gift of the Alsdorf Foundation
Provenance
Bruce Miller Antiquities, Kathmandu and Sausalito, CA; sold to the Alsdorf Foundation, Chicago, IL, June 22, 1976 [invoice from Bruce Miller Antiquities, June 22, 1976; copy in curatorial object file]; [on long-term loan at the Art Institute of Chicago, July 8, 1976; promised as a gift to the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 11, 2002]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, Dec. 31, 2010.

Linked open data

Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.

Object type
AAT300209261

Related across collections

Semantically similar works from Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.