This antique silver bracelet made in a wide bangle style to fit over the hand and still stay on the wrist is made in one of the classic styles in that tradition. At the mention of Rajasthani tradition in the practical arts, we recall that it dates back a long while. A bit more than a thousand years ago, the Raj became the class of heroes in that region that stood for the Hindu tradition against an attempted invasion from the extension of the Khanate in the part of the modern world that is now Afghanistan.

Later rulers are known as the Rajputs or sons of the Raj, and the land is still called the Rajasthan province of Western India, sharing the border with the modern country of Pakistan. Rajasthani arts, especially the art of adornment, remained true to the tradition of celebrating nature and nature deities. The temples are adorned with many images of the particular deity worshipped there, and the jewelry abounds in forms copied from nature. Rosettes, lotus roots, bulbs and florets, and writhing serpents all decorated bands for the wrists, ankles, fingers, ears, noses, and foreheads.

The braided coin silver in this band for the wrist is enhanced by the addition of a filigree dahlia motif in bud and flower. On the opposite side of the band hang pendant beads that tinkle as the hand is moved. This bracelet is almost identical to the one published in a well-known and authoritative book on ethnic bracelets: A World of Bracelets (2002) by Anne van Cutsem. You can see the photo on page 200 of that book. On that bracelet the floral motif is more like a rosette, and the bead pendants are not the same.

It is also part of the jewelry making tradition of the Rajasthani bracelets of this era to be oxidized purposely, so that with age, they show even more patina, as the one listed here certainly does.

Measurements: Inside diameter = 63.5 mm (2.5 in) Height: 2.5 cm (1 in)
Bead pendant length = 7.3 cm (2.9 in)