Cleveland Museum of Art

Earring with Vishnu Riding Garuda

Date: 1600s or 1700s
Medium: Gold set with precious and semiprecious stones
Culture: Nepal, Kathmandu Valley
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

This earring was made to hang on sculptures of deities worshipped in Nepalese temples. Nepalese craftsmen excelled at the detailed encrustation of jewels to depict complex figural imagery. They shaped gold wires into a framework, then inserted polished stones into the spaces, held in place with an adhesive. Four-armed Vishnu is made of sapphires; his mount the man-eagle appears to be made of carnelian and spinel with wings of turquoise. This was among the first works to enter the museum's collection.

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