Featured Lion bracelet, silver, gold. India? Pakistan?

Does anyone have any idea about the origin and age of my lion bangle?
There are no marks, but it tests as sterling silver and 10k gold.
The stones are ruby and white sapphire.
The enamel looks like Multan enamel, which was made in Multan, Pakistan. Similar enamel was made in northern India.
The symbols near the hinge look a bit like Urdu (Arabic style) script, used mostly in Pakistan.
I don't know if there is any relation to my bracelet, but Michael Backman quotes the following in reference to a Sri Lankan bangle with lions on the sides:
Utracht (1997, p.254) illustrates an Indian example, and comments that such bracelets were given by rajas to their subjects as a mark of favour.
http://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/1000.html
When I google lion bracelet India (or Pakistan), I only find modern Indian bracelets with African lions. These are clearly Asian lions, with shorter manes.
Indian bracelets usually have Makara heads, but they have short elephant-like trunks.

Thanks for looking.

 

OK. I give up. Where's the lion? And I'm seeing feathers. or, perhaps, scales?

 

Two lion heads meet near the hinge, ruby eyes, the feathers are manes.

 

Looks like dragons to me

 

I love dragons, but this bracelet is not from 'dragon country'. I do have dragon bracelets though, Indonesian, Chinese.

 

Wait for AJ to show up.....she'll know where this is from !!!

Oh....wait...what ? .. Heehehehe!!!!!!!!!

 

See my problem? I'm still hoping and waiting, hoping and waiting....

 

I am leaning towards Pakistan (they can see me in Lahore).
Date?
If this was a bracelet commissioned by a Maharaja or Nawab for a loyal subject, it could be rare, and I may never find out. I'll have to start searching for museums in Pakistan and see if they can tell me something.

 

That's a real stunner,Any!
I got nuthin'

 

I have no clue, but the thought has crossed my mind that it is a Pakistani ankle bracelet of newer manufacture based on some older designs......

 

It is certainly a traditional style, as are the ones you showed. By the way, those are wrist bracelets, rigid ankle bracelets are very sturdy and usually don't open.
The top one is with the Makaras I mentioned, that is the usual animal head bracelet in India. Wearing a Makara has a great protective meaning, a bit like having a guardian angel. The floral elephant head is unusual, looks like a modern take on the Makara head bracelet. Both are kundan meenakari style. Kundan style is stones in individual mounts, but with the mounts tightly against each other. Meenakari is an originally Persian enamel style with mainly floral motifs.
These bracelet are found in different variations throughout India, with related styles in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They are a living tradition, still made for weddings and other special occasions. Old jewellery is often scrapped and used to make new jewellery in a similar style.
The last picture is of a classic Multan style bracelet, with Multan enamel on silver, but set with stones, which is unusual. The hinge on these bracelets is out of centre.

This is a rigid ankle bracelet:


My problem is that mine is none of the above.
It does not have the usual Makara heads.
The stones are not set in the kundan style, but bracelets with an occasional stone here and there are not uncommon in 'Subcontinental' jewellery.
The enamel is more like the duller Multan enamel, not the shiny, floral meenakari. But there is little of it, whereas Multan enamel usually covers an entire bracelet. And I have never seen Multan with gold, but this could be a marriage. The wear on the enamel indicates age, I have a feeling it is mid-century, at least.
And the hinge is central, unlike Multan and most other Pakistani style bracelets, but like many Indian style bracelets.

While writing this it suddenly struck me that Multan was ruled by Sikh for a while. The lion is an important symbol in Sikhism, and to avoid caste distinction Sikhs even adopted the name Singh, lion, as a generic surname (formerly used only by the warrior caste). Maybe that is something I should look at. Right now the only Sikh bracelet I know is the kara, the steel bangle worn by men.

 

well i was just trying to be thought provoking.....

 

Thanks! Works every time, my 'little grey cells' need a kick up the... sometimes. So at least one person is happy with your input today.
I have been wondering about this bracelet for such a long time, all the time going back to the same things. At least now there is a new question which I may never know the answer to. But I will try to find it, I remember there was something like a Sikh museum in the UK.

 

Wanted to say that I enjoyed reading this thread. There is so much to learn still in the world.

 

Yes, it is a big wide world.
What always fascinates me is that every culture has such a distinct and yet very universal way of expressing beauty. And the expression of beauty is linked with tradition, spirituality, status, and identity.
Maybe I'll post some more ethnic jewellery, pieces I know more about.

 

Keep in mind, I know NOTHING on this topic.

https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels...h-two-chimera-heads-diameter-5-75-cm-x-5-1-cm

"Marked with SuB, Made in Germany, partially tested for 925 silver."

 

That is a twin! Thanks, Jivvy!
Except there is no steel in mine, and chimera heads...? Mine isn't marked, but the 'made in Germany' mark is likely to be for those gold 'backings' made for the Indian market, which I mentioned in this thread:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/indian-raj-kutch-or-burmese-silver-bracelet.38493/#post-645786

 

Wow! How the hell did you find that so fast? Is spend all day trying to find a hallmark!

 

I am sure some of inh's magic is rubbing off on her.

 

lol, well. A lot of research is experimentation and luck. Don't exactly recall how I first got there, but I found the piece below. It's by Cartier and was referred to as "chimera head" and I said, "hey, let's try searching on that" and wow, boatload of similar bracelets including the twin.

Higher praise cannot be had.