Cleveland Museum of Art

Plate with Nandi in Center

Date

c. 1800

Medium

cloisonné enamel on gold

Culture

Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Jaipur

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Petal-shaped canopies filled with floral designs and birds encircle an image of Nandi, the white bull mount of the Hindu destroyer god Shiva. Together they form a lotus flower. The birds are individualized species, showing the care of the metalworker to depict nature in all its variety and splendor. The fowl include peacocks, parakeets, bluebirds, and possibly even Indian rollers. To make the birds’ wings and the details on Nandi, the artist used thin gold wire to create cells, called cloisons, that could then be filled with colored glass. Some of the red glass has been lost on the outer rim of the plate. A peacock and peahen inhabit the upper right corner.

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