Crown Top or Usnisha Cover

Maker: Unknown

late 9th–early 10th century

Indo-Pacific Art

On view, 3rd floor, Indo-Pacific Art

This crown was intended to cover the topknot of a person or statue. The small curls evoke the story of snails crawling onto the Buddha’s head to protect him from the hot sun. The crystalline stone at the top of the crown represents the protuberance on the Buddha’s head, which is known as the “bump of wisdom” (usnisha, in Sanskrit). Small holes at the lower rim of the crown indicate that it was meant to be sewn or tied to some other object. Two similar crowns from the late ninth or early tenth century were found in Central Java in the 1990 discovery of the Wonoboyo Hoard, one of the greatest finds of Javanese gold to date.

Medium

Repoussé gold sheet and gold wire, with crystal finial

Dimensions

crown: 5 11/16 × 3 7/8 in., 152 g (14.5 × 9.9 cm)
plume: 7 1/16 × 1 7/16 in., 3.64 g (18 × 3.6 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Valerie and Hunter Thompson

Accession Number

2008.21.109a-b

Geography

Made in Java, Indonesia

Culture

Java

Period

Early Classic period (ca. 650–1000)

Classification

Ritual Objects

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
The Hunter Thompson Collection of Ancient Javanese Gold, Toronto, to 2008; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • John Miksic, Old Javanese Gold: The Hunter Thompson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2011), 141, fig. 22
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

ceremonial objects

Technical metadata and APIs

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Open in Mirador

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