NEPAL, 19TH CENTURY

A similar necklace in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is catalogued as the 'Necklace of the Living Goddess' (acc.no.M.79.242). This necklace is associated with the ritual worship of a young girl who, following an initiation ritual, is referred to as Kumari Devi and treated as an incarnation of the goddess Durga. The tradition dates back at least to the 17th century. Photographs of recent incumbents show them wearing similar necklaces. Another example is in the Barbier Muller collection, Geneva (acc.no.2404-8, published Laurence Mattet, Icons in Gold: Jewelry of India, Paris, 2005, p.172, no.38).