Lot Essay
A vanki is worn on the upper part of the arm. A pair of gold vanki are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum which belonged to John Johnston from Alva in Scotland, who had acquired them prior to 1765 (acc.no.IS.28:1&2-1997). However most surviving examples, like ours, date from the 19th century. A V-shaped example of similar design to ours is in the Barbier-Mueller collection (Usha R Bala Krishnan, Icons in Gold: Jewellery of India, Paris, 2005, p.160, no.32). Closely related to the decoration on these pieces is the decoration on combs from Southern India, such as one in the Susan L Beningson Collection upon which can be found two peacocks with a similarly voluminous cascade of tail feathers to our example (Molly Emma Aitken, When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L Beningson Collection, New York, 2004, p.136, no.154).
Another divine couple, flanked by peacocks, can be found on a tiger claw amulet attributed to Madras in the collection of Chhote Bharany in New Delhi (Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, London, 1998, p.93, no.153).
Another divine couple, flanked by peacocks, can be found on a tiger claw amulet attributed to Madras in the collection of Chhote Bharany in New Delhi (Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, London, 1998, p.93, no.153).