Rare Kuki Cuff Bracelet

This cast brass heirloom cuff bracelet is of a particularly rare type. We are aware of only one pair in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University. One of this pair is illustrated in Untracht (1997, p. 65). The pair was collected by a Mr J.H. Hutton and donated to the Museum in 1931. Hutton ascribed the cuff bracelet to the Thado Kuki (Thadou Kuki) people of the Naga Hills. They belong to the broader Kuki group and speak the Thado language. The Kuki are a distinct ethnic group. They live in the Nagaland region but are one of the few non-Naga groups in the area.

The bracelet has been cast in an almost closed ‘C’ form, with a slight concave body, with chased horizontal ridges, and a band of spirals within chevron borders on each side of the opening. The overall effect is to imitate a bracelet woven from fine rattan strips.

Towards the wider end, there is a small casting hole, but otherwise, the bracelet is in good condition and with a lovely patina. Overall, this is a very rare item of which  only several are known.