# Earring with Vishnu Riding Garuda

- Date: 1600s or 1700s
- Medium: Gold set with precious and semiprecious stones
- Classification: Jewelry
- Dimensions: Overall: 2.6 cm (1 in.)
- Culture: Nepal, Kathmandu Valley
- Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.342.1)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.342.1/1915.342.1_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This earring was made to hang on sculptures of deities worshipped in Nepalese temples. Nepalese craftsmen excelled at the detailed encrustation of jewels to depict complex figural imagery. They shaped gold wires into a framework, then inserted polished stones into the spaces, held in place with an adhesive. Four-armed Vishnu is made of sapphires; his mount the man-eagle appears to be made of carnelian and spinel with wings of turquoise.