A RURAL INDIAN DOUBLE TOE RING WITH PARASOLS (CHHAJJA)
Possibly Rajasthan, North-Western India, 20th century

WIth double circular copper shanks, surmounted by two sloping silver parasols, one circular, the latter square, with rounded pommels and a central narrow band of granulation.

3.2cm x 4.5cm x 2.5cm

Toe sizes 54 / 7 and 49 / 5

1.75cm and 1.55cm diameters

19gr.

Meant to be worn on the toes and thus, bound to quick wear, Indian toe rings like the present example often tend to have copper shanks and silver heads. This choice underlies practical and cost-saving considerations: replacing copper was simply much cheaper than silver.

For a parallel example: Waltraud Ganguly, Indian Folk Jewellery: Designs and Techniques, 2015, p. 34.