6781

Enquiry about object: 6781

    Your First Name (required)

    Your Last Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Your Country (required)

    Your Message

    Naga Brass Pendant

    Konyak Naga People, Burma/India
    circa 1900

    height: 16cm, width: 6.3cm, weight: 90g

    Available Enquire

    Provenance

    private European collection

    This chest ornament is of cast brass and is from the Konyak Naga people. It is in the form of a segment of conch or chank shell with a fish-tail terminal. The top has been decorated with a zig-zag border and two loops to allow suspension.

    Such items were male prestige ornaments and might have been worn by warriors who had successfully taken heads.

    See a related example in Jacobs (1990, p. 255).

    The example here has a fine patina and obvious age. It is stable and wearable.

    References

    Borel, F., The Splendour of Ethnic Jewelry: From the Colette and Jean-Pierre Ghysels Collection, Thames & Hudson, 1994.

    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.

    Schmitt, K., ‘The language of Naga ornament: Beads, Bones and Hornbill feathers’, Arts of Asia, July-August 2004.

    Dozens of items are added to our website every month. Be among the first to know about them
     
    Receive our Regular Catalogues