This golden chain with circular interlocking links has a tusk-shaped pendant on one end. It was probably used as an ‘upavita’ or sacred thread to be worn around the neck. This chain was made during the Indo-Javanese or classical period, when the influx of Indian aesthetic and religious ideas reached its peak.Prior to this, gold objects were already being fashioned, but the absorption of Indian symbols came to be reflected in the goldwork of Javanese smiths. Javanese jewellery from this period is highly complex in form, indicating a major departure from the geometric forms of earlier periods. The exact extent to which local innovations marked a departure from contemporary Indian forms cannot be easily ascertained; while a vast quantity of gold jewellery from this period has been discovered in Java, very little from this period has been found in India.
