Mahârânî
of Sikkim, a full-blooded Tibetan by birth, is offered by a portrait of
this queen done in oil by Damodar Dutt, a Bengali artist, in 1908,
while the Mahârânî was sharing the captivity of her husband at
Darjeeling, where they had been sequestrated by the British authorities
for many years. The elaborate and rather oppressive headdress is a
typical adornment of the queens of Sikkim; the broad bandeaux are
composed of pearls, and a brilliant color effect is produced by the
rows of alternating corals and turquoises. The gold ear-rings have a
turquoise-inlay, in concentric rings, and from the queen's neck hangs a
long necklace of coral beads, separated at intervals by large spheres
of amber; a coral bracelet and two rings, with coral and turquoise
setting respectively, complete the very effective, if not especially
costly, jewelry.42
Jade girdle pendants having a talismanic quality were in great favor during the period of the Chou dynasty (1122-249 b.c.). The
typical girdle pendant of that time was a seven-jewelled one, each of
the combined ornaments being made of some one of the choice varieties
of jade. These adornments consisted of a top-piece or brooch, whence
depended a circular central plaque (yü), flanked by two square
ornaments (kü) ; below followed a centre-ornament of segment form, on
either side of which was a bow-shaped jewel. The girdle ornaments were
rich in symbolic significance, the rhythmic swinging of the jades
caused a musical note whenever they came in contact with one another,
or with any metallic object; as love-trinkets they had the most
fortunate meaning; as indications of office they gained consideration
and respect for the wearers of high rank, while for those of
" Berthold
Läufer, " Notes on Turquois in the East," Field Museum of Natural
History, Publication 169; Anthropological Series, vol. xiii, No. 1.
Chicago, July, 1913; see text opposite frontispiece plate.
