4259

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    Naga Bead & Bone Necklace or Girdle

    Naga People, India/Burma
    19th century

    length (approx): 67cm, width: 15.5cm, weight: 517g

    Available - Enquire

    Provenance

    private collection, London.

    – scroll down to see further images –

    This beaded belt or girdle with etched bone ends would have been worn over a short skirt by a Naga woman, probably of the Konyak group. It comprises dozens of strands of red, blue and other coloured glass beads that most probably were manufactured in India.

    Such belts with all the beads they required were displays of status and wealth.

    Jacobs (1990, p. 308) illustrates several related examples.

    The belt is in excellent condition – there are no discernible losses and the threading is robust and stable.

    References

    Daalder, T., Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment: Australia, Oceania, Asia, Africa, Ethnic Art Press/Macmillan, 2009.

    Jacobs, J., The Nagas: Hill Peoples of Northeast India, Thames & Hudson, 1990.

    Shilu, A., Naga Tribal Adornment: Signatures of Status and Self, The Bead Museum, Washington, 2003.

    Untracht, O., Traditional Jewelry of India, Thames & Hudson, 1997.

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