http://collection.shangrilahawaii.org/internal/media/dispatcher/44146/fullGem-Set Enamelled Gold Necklace (Guttapusalu) with Chevron-Striped Fish Pendants and Enamelled Fish Motifs on Reverse20th centuryOverall: 17 in. (43.2cm)
Enameled gold, diamonds, seed pearls, green glass beads, cordGift of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Courtesy of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.57.1091This type of necklace is called a guttapusalu. Gutta means “bunches of small fish, and pusal are beads. The necklace is lined with fish-shaped beads decorated with a red-and-white enamel in a chevron pattern. This necklace was created in the twentieth century, following the fall of Mughal India when the British Empire asserted colonial administration over much of the former empire. Having lost true political and military power, Indian nobility expressed their status visually through elaborate pieces of jewelry associated with kingship.Jewelry0E-100E-100E-100E-100E-100E-100E-100E-100E-101647735056