Evil Eye Elephant Wall Hangings, Set of 12 — Silver-Toned Elephants on Red Tassel Cords

Quick Specs

• Set: 12 wall hangings
• Figure: Silver-toned elephant with a decorated blanket and red-dotted eyes
• Eye: Round red, white and black eye on each elephant’s blanket
• Cord: Red braided cord with a black accent bead
• Tassel: Red tassel with a yellow thread wrap below each elephant

Twelve Decorated Elephants on Red Cord

Each of the twelve hangings is built the same way. A red braided cord forms a loop at the top and passes through a black accent bead flecked with color, with thin yellow thread wrapped around the cord just beneath it. At the bottom of the cord hangs a silver-toned elephant in profile, with a textured head covering, red-dotted eyes and a decorated blanket across its back. In the middle of the blanket sits a round eye ringed in red and white around a black center, and the blanket’s border is worked in small patterns. Below the elephant, a red tassel hangs from a short link, bound with yellow thread near the top. Red runs from the top of the cord to the end of the tassel, so the silver elephant reads as a bright, metallic accent in the middle of the red. With twelve in the set, you can hang them separately or in a row, and because the pieces match, a row across a window or along a shelf reads as one design.

The elephant carries a long history in South Asian art and festival. Sources describe it as a symbol of strength and royal power with divine associations, and Hindu mythology links it to Ganesha, to Indra, whose mount is the white elephant Airavata, and to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Rulers and temples have shown their rank by dressing elephants in decorated blankets for processions, and these hangings show the same decorated blanket. The eye on each blanket belongs to another tradition: the evil eye belief, which holds that a malevolent stare can cause misfortune. A museum catalogue notes that amulets against it typically take an eye-shaped design, realistic or highly stylised, and that they’re worn or carried. A round disk ringed in red and white is a stylised eye. The classic nazar bead is blue, white, light blue and black, and these eyes are red, white and black instead. The set puts the two emblems, the decorated elephant and the eye, on one cord.

Practical Ways to Hang the Set

Hang one beside each door in the house, or fix a row of hooks along a window frame, a shelf edge or a porch beam and let the tassels swing. The cord loop slips over a nail or a cup hook, and a row of twelve makes a bold line across a plain wall. Because the pieces match, you can also keep a few for yourself and pass the rest along as small gifts, one to a housewarming, one to a new office or studio. They suit a shop counter or a classroom as well, where a handful in a row is easy to spot. Hang them away from heat and open flame, since the tassels are thin cord. For more things to hang, see my wall hangings and chimes collection.

How to Hang and Space a Set of Twelve Elephant Hangings

The Tarot Fellow Standard

I stock this as a set of twelve because a matching dozen lets you hang a row, spread pieces through a home or give a few away. Each hanging is a plain cord-and-tassel piece with no setup, which makes it an easy first eye charm if you’re new to them. The elephant and the evil eye each come from living traditions, in South Asia and across the Mediterranean and beyond, and these hangings are decorative references to them, never a replacement for the customs of the people who keep them. If a custom belongs to your family, follow it. If it’s new to you, learn where it comes from before you decide what it means in your home. See my protection and cleansing collection for more.

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