Pendant in the form of a rearing lion

The earliest Central Javanese (post classical) sometimes used a layer of silver over gold in order to enhance the glitter of the rough cut diamonds. It was only with the coming of the Europeans that the Javanese learnt how to cut diamonds, leading to the spectacular 'berlian' (brilliant cut) jewellery of later periods.This piece comes from that early period and the use of the Dutch lion is also an important indicator of European contact and shows the close alliance between the two groups.The piece is believed to have come from a princess in the Solo court.

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