Forehead Pendant with Sun God Surya in a Chariot with Attendants (1600s or 1700s): Art, History and Details

Forehead Pendant with Sun God Surya in a Chariot with Attendants (1600s or 1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This pendant was made to hang on a sculpture of a deity under worship in a Nepalese temple. The image of the Sun God, venerated by both Buddhists and Hindus, is carved in translucent golden stones set into a framework of gold wire.He holds two lotuses with emeralds in the center.

Object facts

• Title: Forehead Pendant with Sun God Surya in a Chariot with Attendants
• Date: 1600s or 1700s
• Culture: Nepal, Kathmandu Valley
• Type: Jewelry
• Technique: gold set with jewels and semi-precious stones
• Dimensions: Overall: 8 x 4.6 cm (3 1/8 x 1 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Nepalese Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1915.337

A detail from the museum

The golden figure below the Sun God is the Dawn, driving the five-horse chariot across the sky.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.