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Lot 35
A Rare and Important Rock Crystal Gem-Encrusted Ayigalu
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Est.
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The Decorative Arts Sale (M0038)
Description
*
Karnataka, South India, early-mid 19th Century
a rare and magnificent carved rock crystal, gold, ruby and emerald encrusted ayigalu lingam casket that opens at the top with a hinged lid, the front carved with a flowerhead comprising twenty long petals radiating from a cabochon ruby centre set within a gold frame, the long petals extend into the sheet gold covering on the lid, a row of forty-one cabochon rubies arranged around the outer circumference, the gems embedded in gold in a typically South-Indian technique of setting, the reverse of the pendant carved to the centre with an eight-petalled flower and swirling leaves with serrated edges; the lid surmounted by a miniature rock crystal Nandi bull decorated with cabochon rubies set in gold, the bull sits on a gold pedestal set with rubies and emeralds and a floral wreath in gold repoussé around the base, two pillar-like side pieces with bulbous sections and loops on top also carved from rock crystal and decorated with crystal flowers with cabochon emerald centres, gold florets and set with rows of cabochon rubies, fashioned as a receptacle and divided horizontally on top with a lid, weight 225 gms.
Height 31⁄4 × width 37⁄8 in. (8.3 × 10 cm.)
LITERATURE:
For a similar rock crystal pendant, see, Usha Balakrishnan, The Dance of the Peacock – Jewellery Traditions of India, New Delhi, 1999, p. 197. Also see Splendours of the East, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, exhibition catalogue, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1997, p. 14., and, Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, USA, 1997, pp. 132-136.
The ayigalu compellingly illustrates the multifaceted character of Indian jewellery. Function and form coalesce in a jewel that is precious, rare and unique, beautifully designed and exquisitely crafted. The form of the jewel and what lies hidden inside the hollow casket has a deep cultural and spiritual meaning.
This jewel is unique to the Lingayat community who mostly reside in Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra. The Lingayats are a Shaiva religious sect founded by Basavanna, a 12th century social reformer who rejected the concepts of Brahmanism dominated by priests and polytheism. The sect repudiates caste, temple worship, rituals and allows widows to remarry. Lingayats are monotheistic. They believe in Shiva as the one universal god as a formless entity whom they worship in the aniconic form of ishtalinga, a personal lingam made of a blue-black soapstone or rock crystal that is coated with a mixture of cow dung ashes that hardens and protects the lingam. The lingam is uniquely created, consecrated and ceremonially given to a Lingayat child by a guru in an initiation ceremony, marking his/her entry into the community. It is placed inside the casket and is carried on the body at all times. Every day the lingam is removed, worshipped and meditated upon. The worship is believed to culminate with ultimate union with Shiva. In fact, when a Lingayat dies, the departed is buried seated cross-legged with the casket and lingam in the right hand.
The term ayigalu or aigalu in Kannada is an honorific epithet for a teacher. The guru of the Lingayats is also known as jangama, from jangam meaning ‘moving linga’. The aniconic object that is placed inside the casket is referred to as the jangama lingam, that is, the lingam that is consecrated and presented by the jangama or guru. The pendant is strung on a cord known as the shivdhara or cord of Shiva. Colloquially, the jewel is also variously known as karadige meaning covered box or gundage, of round, globular form. In Maharashtra, the simpler square, rectangular or egg-shaped silver caskets are commonly known as chauka, the term derived from its geometrical form. They are either strikingly simple and plain or are decorated with gold and silver fittings with chased and repoussé designs worked in relief.
The globular form of the pendant is a metaphor for the golden egg or Hiranyagarbha, the Supreme Creator, floating in the dark void of space as described in the Vedas.
‘In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha,
born Only Lord of all created beings.
He fixeth and holdeth up this earth and heaven’
(Rig Veda: Mandala 10, Hymn 121)
Rock crystal, or sphatika in Sanskrit, is a transparent and colourless variety of quartz found in different parts of India. The clearest and best quality comes from the modern Indian states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Ratnapariksha of Buddhbhatta, a 6th century manual on gems describes rock crystal as ‘pure and limpid as air or sesame oil, white as the fibers of the lotus or the conch...’ Rock crystal is believed to bond the energies in earth and water to create a positive field of energy; it symbolises awareness, purity and calm and is endowed with powerful talismanic and protective properties. To a Lingayat, the transparent crystal represents that which is invisible yet omniscient.
The Nandi bull on the lid is the vahana or vehicle of Shiva and guardian of his abode – in this case, the casket and the lingam inside. Measuring a mere 1.3 cm. in height and 2.1 cm. in length, the miniature bull is precisely carved, its eyes, ears and trappings decorated with cabochon rubies set in gold. Examples of rock crystal casket pendants are rare and only two other pieces are known. Please see Usha Balakrishnan, The Dance of the Peacock – Jewellery Traditions of India, New Delhi, 1999, p. 197, and Splendours of the East, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, exhibition catalogue, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1997, p. 14. Crafted from a material that symbolises nothingness, and generates charges that help achieve high levels of meditation, the ayigalu has spiritual and symbolic value that reflects the importance of the sacred contents that once resided inside the case.
Dr. Usha R. Balakrishnan
Jewellery Historian, Curator & Cultural Consultant
* NATIONAL ART TREASURE – NON-EXPORTABLE ITEM (Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of Sale at the back of the catalogue)
Karnataka, South India, early-mid 19th Century
a rare and magnificent carved rock crystal, gold, ruby and emerald encrusted ayigalu lingam casket that opens at the top with a hinged lid, the front carved with a flowerhead comprising twenty long petals radiating from a cabochon ruby centre set within a gold frame, the long petals extend into the sheet gold covering on the lid, a row of forty-one cabochon rubies arranged around the outer circumference, the gems embedded in gold in a typically South-Indian technique of setting, the reverse of the pendant carved to the centre with an eight-petalled flower and swirling leaves with serrated edges; the lid surmounted by a miniature rock crystal Nandi bull decorated with cabochon rubies set in gold, the bull sits on a gold pedestal set with rubies and emeralds and a floral wreath in gold repoussé around the base, two pillar-like side pieces with bulbous sections and loops on top also carved from rock crystal and decorated with crystal flowers with cabochon emerald centres, gold florets and set with rows of cabochon rubies, fashioned as a receptacle and divided horizontally on top with a lid, weight 225 gms.
Height 31⁄4 × width 37⁄8 in. (8.3 × 10 cm.)
LITERATURE:
For a similar rock crystal pendant, see, Usha Balakrishnan, The Dance of the Peacock – Jewellery Traditions of India, New Delhi, 1999, p. 197. Also see Splendours of the East, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, exhibition catalogue, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1997, p. 14., and, Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, USA, 1997, pp. 132-136.
The ayigalu compellingly illustrates the multifaceted character of Indian jewellery. Function and form coalesce in a jewel that is precious, rare and unique, beautifully designed and exquisitely crafted. The form of the jewel and what lies hidden inside the hollow casket has a deep cultural and spiritual meaning.
This jewel is unique to the Lingayat community who mostly reside in Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra. The Lingayats are a Shaiva religious sect founded by Basavanna, a 12th century social reformer who rejected the concepts of Brahmanism dominated by priests and polytheism. The sect repudiates caste, temple worship, rituals and allows widows to remarry. Lingayats are monotheistic. They believe in Shiva as the one universal god as a formless entity whom they worship in the aniconic form of ishtalinga, a personal lingam made of a blue-black soapstone or rock crystal that is coated with a mixture of cow dung ashes that hardens and protects the lingam. The lingam is uniquely created, consecrated and ceremonially given to a Lingayat child by a guru in an initiation ceremony, marking his/her entry into the community. It is placed inside the casket and is carried on the body at all times. Every day the lingam is removed, worshipped and meditated upon. The worship is believed to culminate with ultimate union with Shiva. In fact, when a Lingayat dies, the departed is buried seated cross-legged with the casket and lingam in the right hand.
The term ayigalu or aigalu in Kannada is an honorific epithet for a teacher. The guru of the Lingayats is also known as jangama, from jangam meaning ‘moving linga’. The aniconic object that is placed inside the casket is referred to as the jangama lingam, that is, the lingam that is consecrated and presented by the jangama or guru. The pendant is strung on a cord known as the shivdhara or cord of Shiva. Colloquially, the jewel is also variously known as karadige meaning covered box or gundage, of round, globular form. In Maharashtra, the simpler square, rectangular or egg-shaped silver caskets are commonly known as chauka, the term derived from its geometrical form. They are either strikingly simple and plain or are decorated with gold and silver fittings with chased and repoussé designs worked in relief.
The globular form of the pendant is a metaphor for the golden egg or Hiranyagarbha, the Supreme Creator, floating in the dark void of space as described in the Vedas.
‘In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha,
born Only Lord of all created beings.
He fixeth and holdeth up this earth and heaven’
(Rig Veda: Mandala 10, Hymn 121)
Rock crystal, or sphatika in Sanskrit, is a transparent and colourless variety of quartz found in different parts of India. The clearest and best quality comes from the modern Indian states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Ratnapariksha of Buddhbhatta, a 6th century manual on gems describes rock crystal as ‘pure and limpid as air or sesame oil, white as the fibers of the lotus or the conch...’ Rock crystal is believed to bond the energies in earth and water to create a positive field of energy; it symbolises awareness, purity and calm and is endowed with powerful talismanic and protective properties. To a Lingayat, the transparent crystal represents that which is invisible yet omniscient.
The Nandi bull on the lid is the vahana or vehicle of Shiva and guardian of his abode – in this case, the casket and the lingam inside. Measuring a mere 1.3 cm. in height and 2.1 cm. in length, the miniature bull is precisely carved, its eyes, ears and trappings decorated with cabochon rubies set in gold. Examples of rock crystal casket pendants are rare and only two other pieces are known. Please see Usha Balakrishnan, The Dance of the Peacock – Jewellery Traditions of India, New Delhi, 1999, p. 197, and Splendours of the East, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, exhibition catalogue, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1997, p. 14. Crafted from a material that symbolises nothingness, and generates charges that help achieve high levels of meditation, the ayigalu has spiritual and symbolic value that reflects the importance of the sacred contents that once resided inside the case.
Dr. Usha R. Balakrishnan
Jewellery Historian, Curator & Cultural Consultant
* NATIONAL ART TREASURE – NON-EXPORTABLE ITEM (Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of Sale at the back of the catalogue)
Condition
The inside of the casket with darker metal strips to hold the outer gold rim in place and a fine sliver of missing crystal on the inner lip of the casket, visible from the inside. General wear and tear commensurate with use and age. Overall good condition.
