The crown which is the main component of the piece, at the top, was probably originally used to decorate the head of an image. Michael Backman’s example in the bottom photo is captioned “Gilt Copper & Rock Crystal Ganapati (Tsog Dak or Ganesh), Nepal/Tibet, 19th century.”
Our crown apparently came to be separated from the face which it adorned, and was then fitted with a silver comb in order to turn the piece into a headdress. The comb is easily removable. A thin sheet of gold covers the entire crown. The turquoise and coral stones are original to the piece.
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