Necklace · India, Naga · ID: 3036249
sold
EUR 250
Provenance
Christina Fessler, Zurich, Switzerland, collected in situ, (Kohima, Nagaland)Size
L: 57 cm
L: 22.4 inch
Description
shell, glass, bronze, big cylindrical glass beads in red-orange, in four strings thread on cord material, forming 12 strings with metal bells (fixed side-by-side through shell clasps);
from birth to death, ornaments marked the stages of a Naga’s life. Important rites of passage were accompanied by the wearing of appropriate jewelry. An Ao father acknowledged paternity by piercing a new-born’s ears. The Lotha tied a carnelian bead to a dead man’s wrist before burial. It was to be exchanged for a drink of water from the spirit whom he would meet on his journey to the Land of the Dead.
Comparing literature
Kunz, Richard, Naga, Basel 2008, p. 96 ff.