Vintage Man's Gold Gilt Silver Button Ornament from Rajasthan, India

Lovely gold gilt silver Indian button from Rajasthan. The set includes three heart shaped buttons decorated with repousse work. The buttons are connected by handmade chains and have chain dangles. The button set was used on a man's garment and served both a functional and an aesthetic purpose. The button part was passed through two eyelets closing the shirt or tunic while the dangles adorned the garment. A picture of how this button was worn can be seen in Oppi Untracht's book: Traditional Jewelry of India (p 230).

Each button is about 1 cm across (1/2"). Length with dangles of the set is 22 cm (8 1/2"). The distance between two buttons is 9 cm (3 1/2"). Weight is 23.1 g.