Old Himachel Tribal Silver: Himachel Pradesh is a very northerly state of India, Himalayan and Himalayan foothills; its old traditional Silver-work, of which the above pendant is a good example, tends to consist of an individual, pleasant and balanced mixture of motifs various from further south, from Rajasthan and the Punjab.
Shimla, the largest city and commercial centre of Himachel, was so liked by the British of the Raj that they made it the summer capital of their empire after the mutiny of 1857, for all sorts of reasons, not least of which was that they found the natives of Himachel somewhat more progressive, and more pleasant than the citizens of the plains below in the stifling heat of the summer of the sub-continent.
Whatever, interesting that the level of corruption in Himachel is considered the lowest in India. Certainly the old Silver Tribal jewellery is uniformly handcrafted of high Silver content, as is the case with the above offering.