- Title
- Official's Ear Pendant
- Date Made
- 19th century
- Medium
- Gold, turquoise, colored quartz, glass, and brass
- Dimensions
- 5 1/4 x 1 5/8 in. (13.34 x 4.13 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1999.17.1
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This elongated ear pendant (sochi or so-byis) would have been worn suspended from the left ear by a Tibetan government official as an insignia of rank. See Jane Casey Singer, Gold Jewelry from Tibet and Nepal (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996), pp. 100-101, nos. 30-31 and John Clarke, Jewellery of Tibet and Himalayas (London: V&A Publications, 2004), pp. 64-65, no. 49.
It has a C-shaped brass hoop, below which are bands of granulated gold beads alternating with inlaid turquoise, which was believed to promote good health. In the middle is a piece of colored quartz (in place of the more customary pearl). The lower terminal is a faux-turquoise glass drop held by a gold collar.
Comparable Tibetan ear pendants are in the British Museum, London (1905,0518.76 and 1933,0508.29) and were sold by Michael Backman Ltd, London (https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/archived_objects/tibetan-officials-earring-or-ear-pendant/ and https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/archived_objects/superb-officials-gold-turquoise-glass-ear-pendant-box-tibet-19th-century/).
