Tribal Silver Ganesh & Lakshmi Amulet - 19th Century

This 19th century silver kanchha amulet from Rajasthan shows Ganesh and Lakshmi seated on either side of a stylised Tree of Life, a motif associated with fertility, continuity and the steady growth of good fortune. The rectangular plaque is framed by a dense mandaliya-style border of flowers and beadwork, forming a compact portable vastu or sacred house-plan. Much of the surface is enriched with deep red tika (also known as kumkum), a devotional pigment applied during worship to activate the amulet’s blessing and strengthen its protective power.

Among rural communities in Rajasthan and Gujarat, plaque amulets of this type were selected for the specific blessings the wearer hoped to invite. Lakshmi embodies abundance and household wellbeing, while Ganesh protects new undertakings and clears life’s difficulties. The tika remaining in the recesses shows that this amulet was not only worn but also ritually honoured, believed to draw the deities’ shakti directly to the body. Its softened surfaces and traces of handling suggest long, steady devotional use.

Made using the traditional thappa method, the silversmith heated and annealed a sheet of silver before stamping it over a carved brass die (happ) to raise the figures and the Tree of Life. The edges were trimmed, the beading defined with hammer blows and the four flower-shaped terminals soldered in place to create the suspension loops. This combination of die-stamped relief and applied ornament is characteristic of the rectangular patri-style amulets made for local devotional use.

• Origin: Rajasthan, India
• Date: 19th century
• Weight: 40g
• Material: Solid silver with traces of tika (kumkum)
• Form: Rectangular kanchha or mandaliya-style plaque with floral borders and four flower-form suspension loops
• Depiction: Ganesh and Lakshmi flanking a stylised Tree of Life
• Construction: Traditional thappa stamping over brass die (happ) with trimmed and beaded borders
• Function: Protective and auspicious deity amulet worn on the body, ritually activated with tika
• Reference: Comparable Rajasthan plaque amulets illustrated in Oppi Untracht, Traditional Jewellery of India, especially Tree of Life, Ganesh–Lakshmi and rectangular patri-form examples

A richly worked Rajasthani silver amulet combining Ganesh, Lakshmi and the Tree of Life in a powerful, tika-blessed symbol of protection and prosperity.