Enquiry about object: 3965
Hmong or Mien Silver Bracelet
Hmong or Mien Peoples, Northern Thailand 19th century
internal diameter (across): 5.7cm, weight: 84g
Provenance
Acquired in the UK, from the estate collection of Dr George Yuille Caldwell (1924-2016). Dr Caldwell, an English-born physician moved to Singapore in the 1950s, from where he built up a collection of Asian ethnographica.
This ‘C’-shaped bracelet is of solid-cast, high-grade silver. As such it is noticeably heavy in the hand. It has a fantastic patina; its contours have been worn smooth from use and handling.
The outer surface is chiselled and incised with geometric, leaf, petal and flower motifs.
The ends widen and are flattened. This is typical of the heavy bracelets worn by the Hmong and the Mien peoples of the so-called Golden Triangle region of northern Thailand.
Similar examples are illustrated in van Cutsem (2002, p. 271), and Lewis & Lewis (1984, p. 41).
The bracelet here is in excellent, wearable condition.
References
van Cutsem, A., A World of Bracelets: Africa, Asia, Oceania, America, Skira, 2002.
Lewis, P. & E., Peoples of the Golden Triangle: Six Tribes in Thailand, Thames & Hudson, 1984.
