Indian Marriage Necklace †Research Paper

Indian Marriage Necklace – Research Paper Free Online Research Papers This paper is a study to further research â€Å"Marriage Necklace† kalata uru/thail C: 19th century, Indian, gold, approximately 1’x2’, currently shown at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The study will cover the classification of this type of art as a whole, the technique in which it was created, the artists who created this type of art, its cultural history, iconography, mythology, and compare it to other works made during the time of its creation. This thickset necklace is made of thirty over-sized gold pendants arranged symmetrically along a stout black cotton cord. Five pendants are large hand shaped, highly ornate forms that hang on the front breast area of the necklace. Two pendants are geometrically shaped mirror imaged cones that counterweight the necklace on the back area. Dividing the front pendants, arranged in pairs, are twelve smaller less defined cylindrical pendants that have a file like texture. All pendants are clasp to the black cord giving them a defined direction to face rather than freely hanging. The focal point of the necklace is one of the five hand shaped pendants that hangs in the center on the front breast area of the necklace. This comb-like central pendant of solid gold is worked in repousse and depicts the Hindu god Shiva and his companion Parvati on the bull Nanki in front of a shrine. The relief design of the pendent allows red foil to show through from behind this scene. Above, green copper alloy backs more relief of antelope and birds, this detailed repousse work is characteristic of south Indian Jewelry. In Indian culture all women wear jewelry as a fundamental part of their wardrobe and as a sign of respectability. Jewelry has great importance; it signifies status, marks rituals of life and identity, awards decency, and presents a social background and stage in life. As a protection from misfortune it acts as a store of wealth, and as a medium of prayer it has an association with religion, fortune, and health. This piece of jewelry known as kalata uru meaning â€Å"neck bead† also called a thali was the ceremonial Kazhutthuru necklace from the mercantile Nattukottai Chettir community. Originally this thali was worn by a bride, as a gift from her new husband, during special festival occasions at a Chettiar marriage ceremony, a smaller version was also presented to be worn daily. For a Chettiar marriage a woman’s dowry is an important role through which jewelry was rendered between families, a bride can expect to receive a certain amount of jewelry from her in-laws. The gold used to make the complex marriage necklaces such as this one is given by the bride’s family; except for that used for the central pendant, which is provided by the groom’s family. The thali central pendant was a key factor to the wedding ceremony in that it not only symbolized a blessing from the sun god Suyra it also had spiritual powers to establish a unity between the newly wed bride and groom. Although a Chettiar wedding could take place without the central pendant it was looked upon as a horrible insult to the bride’s family, therefore making it crucial for the groom to present a pendant for the thali that was unique in its own. The smaller daily worn version of the thali known as a mangalsutra is greatly reduced with only a selection of gold pieces rather than the full set of thirty that are worn during the marriage ceremony. Pendants are added to the mangalsutra upon different ritual happenings, each of these pendants has a symbolic meaning, such as fame, education, strength or success. Pendants are also added after the sacred fire, and after conception. Once this jewelry is in the bride’s possession it is known as stridhan or â€Å"women’s wealth†, it belongs solely to the bride and remains an uninfringeable source of financial security for her. In times of trouble the bride could support herself by selling the pendants from it, if not used the stirdhan is inherited by her children. This particular thali actually lacks one pendant. The pendant missing would have been a large elaborate bead representing the foot of Krishna. It is debatable whether a bride sold this pendant during a time of crisis, passed the pendant on to a child, or if this thali was ever completed for a marriage ceremony. The technique in which this thali was made has features from early nineteenth century Europe as well as highly proficient techniques that are unique to the Indian subcontinent. During this period some of the most extensive innovations in craft of gold were created by Indian goldsmiths, some of these skills are still used around the world today. Goldsmiths held high ranking status in the hereditary caste system within the Sudra group of the social categories of India. Out of all metalworkers the status of a goldsmith attributed ritual purity. Goldsmiths worked on the floor of unadorned workshops using simple, sometimes makeshift, tools with which they produced works of great skill and ingenuity. A goldsmith was not only a metal smith, but also worked as an engraver, to mark the pattern of the design to be produced, a chaser, to hollow out the areas that were to be enameled and precious stones to be set, and an enameller, to hatch the surface and fuse colored glass to the piece, a nd on occasion an artist for creating the design of the jewelry. Compared to other works of jewelry of the nineteenth century this ceremonial Kazhutthuru thali is renowned for not only its legendary cultural history but also its exquisite craftsmanship of its time of production. For the last century Upper-class Hindu families have hired goldsmiths to model thalis for their own personal wedding ceremonies, mimicking the Kazhutthuru thali. It has suggested that this thali is as important to India as the royal queens crown is to England. Reference List J.P. Losty, et al. â€Å"Indian subcontinent.† In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T040113pg58 (accessed April 8, 2009). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 200-. Marriage Necklace (kalata uru), New York. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/ssa/ho_1991.32.3.htm Cooper, Ilay, and John Gillow, 1996. Arts and Crafts of India. London: New York: Thames and Hudson Inc. Barnard, Nicholas, 1993. Arts and Crafts of India. London: Conran Octopus Limited. Branard, Nicholas, 2008. Indian Jewelry. London: V A Publishing. Dye III, Joseph M., 2001. The Arts of India Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. 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Biography of Benjamin Banneker, Author and Naturalist

Biography of Benjamin Banneker, Author and Naturalist Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731–October 9, 1806) was a self-educated scientist, astronomer, inventor, writer, and antislavery publicist. He built a striking clock entirely from wood, published a farmers almanac, and actively campaigned against slavery. He was one of the first African Americans to gain distinction for achievements in science. Fast Facts: Benjamin Banneker Known For: Banneker was a writer, inventor, and naturalist who published a series of farmers almanacs in the late 1700s.Born: November 9, 1731 in Baltimore County, MarylandParents: Robert and Mary BannekyDied: October 9, 1806 in Oella, MarylandPublished Works: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris, for the Year of our Lord, 1792Notable Quote: â€Å"The color of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.† Early Life Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Although he was born a free man, he was the descendant of slaves. At that time, the law dictated that if your mother was a slave then you were a slave, and if she was a free woman then you were a free person. Bannekers grandmother Molly Walsh was a bi-racial English immigrant and an indentured servant who married an African slave named Banna Ka, who had been brought to the Colonies by a slave trader. Molly had served seven years as an indentured servant before she acquired and worked on her own small farm. Molly Walsh purchased her future husband Banna Ka and another African to work on her farm. The name Banna Ka was later changed to Bannaky and then changed to Banneker. Benjamins mother Mary Banneker was born free. Benjamins father Rodger was a former slave who had bought his own freedom before marrying Mary. Education Banneker was educated by Quakers, but most of his education was self-taught. He quickly revealed to the world his inventive nature and first achieved national acclaim for his scientific work in the 1791 survey of the Federal Territory (now Washington, D.C.). In 1753, he built one of the first watches made in America, a wooden pocket watch. Twenty years later, Banneker began making astronomical calculations that enabled him to successfully forecast a 1789 solar eclipse. His estimate, made well in advance of the celestial event, contradicted predictions of better-known mathematicians and astronomers. Bannekers mechanical and mathematical abilities impressed many, including Thomas Jefferson, who encountered Banneker after George Elliot had recommended him for the surveying team that laid out Washington, D.C. Almanacs Banneker is best known for his six annual farmers almanacs, which he published between 1792 and 1797. In his free time, Banneker began compiling the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris. The almanacs included information on medicines and medical treatment and listed tides, astronomical information, and eclipses, all calculated by Banneker himself. Many historians believe that the first printed almanac dates to 1457 and was printed by Gutenberg in Mentz, Germany. Benjamin Franklin published his Poor Richards Almanacs in America from 1732 to 1758. Franklin used the assumed name of Richard Saunders and wrote witty maxims in his almanacs such as Light purse, heavy heart and Hunger never saw bad bread. Bannekers almanacs, though they appeared later, were more focused on delivering accurate information than on communicating Bannekers personal views. Letter to Thomas Jefferson On August 19, 1791, Banneker sent a copy of his first almanac to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. In an enclosed letter, he questioned the slaveholders sincerity as a friend to liberty. He urged Jefferson to help get rid of absurd and false ideas that one race is superior to another. Banneker wished Jeffersons sentiments to be the same as his, that one Universal Father...afforded us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties. Jefferson responded with praise for Bannekers accomplishments: I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th and for the Almanac it contained. No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colours of men, that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence both in Africa America...I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of sciences at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic society because I considered it as a document to which your whole colour had a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them. Jefferson later sent a letter to the Marquis de Condorcet informing him about Banneker- a very respectable mathematician- and his work with Andrew Ellicott, the surveyor who marked the boundaries of the Territory of Columbia (later the District of Columbia). Death Declining almanac sales eventually forced Banneker to give up his work. He died at home on October 9, 1806, at the age of 74. Banneker was buried at Mount Gilboa  African Methodist Episcopal Church  in  Oella, Maryland. Legacy Bannekers life became the source of legend after his death, with many attributing certain accomplishments to him for which there is little or no evidence in the historical record. His inventions and almanacs inspired later generations, and in 1980 the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor as part of the Black Heritage series. In 1996, a number of Bannekers personal belongings were auctioned, and some of them were later loaned to the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum. Some of Bannekers personal manuscripts, including the only journal  that survived the 1806 fire that destroyed his home, are in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society. Sources Cerami, Charles A.  Benjamin Banneker Surveyor, Astronomer, Publisher, Patriot. John Wiley, 2002.Miller, John Chester.  The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery. University Press of Virginia, 1995.Weatherly, Myra.  Benjamin Banneker: American Scientific Pioneer. Compass Point Books, 2006.