The presence of the figure of elephants in jewelry dates back thousands of years, so its meaning covers a lotand more so as it originates in an exotic and ancient region such as India, with its saturated culture rich in stories and legends, where the fingers of the hands are not enough to count all its deities and animals finely represented in its jewelry and ornaments.
Firstly associated with the elephant-headed Hindu god, «Ganesha», which is the deity for them in charge of propitiating fortune, talent, abundance and removing obstacles from the path, it is not surprising that this animal has been syncretized in a figure of good omens and power, who was also the mount of the kings and from which in Buddhism, it is related that Buddha was conceived by his mother, Queen Maya after her body was pink during sleep by the trunk of a elephant, so it is not surprising that figures of this beautiful and imposing animal decorate houses as protective amulets.
Likewise, jewelry, an exquisite ancient art, would not overlook this symbol of abundance and good energy, since in China figurines carved in jade of this pachyderm were made 10,000 BC, while emperors of different kingdoms of India wore it as a symbol in several of its ostentatious jewels, definitively associating itself with something good and protective, for which it continued to be represented in the works of goldsmiths, jewelers and artisans, who later ended up arriving by trade routes to the West, due to the striking nature of this animal that it was represented in rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and others.
In this way, the figure of the god Ganesha opened the way to the different pictographic representations of elephants, leaving them as an inheritance the faithful belief that his figure in different ornaments, as in the case of jewelry, would endow the bearer with the good qualities with those associated with this majestic animal, such as resistance, strength, honor and good luck.
Several of these beautiful jewels ended up astonishing the high society of Europe for the refined work with which they were made, generating in part the desire to own these ostentatious works, joining the stories of the exotic wonders of that side of the world, in which the bonanza and the riches were noted in the architecture, its art and clearly the jewelry.
Currently represented in various forms and materials, the elephant is as relevant in jewelry as thousands of years ago, since it can still be found usually represented with its trunk up, from the simplest fantasy jewelry, to elaborate works made in silver. , gold and other metals, sometimes accompanied by precious stones to give even more beauty to this precious amulet that continues to inspire and evoke after so much time, the fortune, protection and longevity that had been given to it from the beginning in Asia.