Bijoux avec des disques en forme d'assiette ornés de coquillages ·  Inde du Sud, Tamil Nadu, Monts Nilgiri, Toda · ID: 3052030

Description

silver, cowrie shells, textile fibers,

This elaborately and exquisitely crafted ornament was used to adorn water buffaloes during secret ritual occasions.

The cowrie-shell discs were reportedly attached to the horns, while the necklace hung between the animal’s forelegs.

The Toda people are a simple, pastoral community. They are not wealthy, and traditionally, water buffalo necklaces such as this example are the most important jewels that the community possessed.

Littérature comparée

Borel, France, Schmuck, Kostbarkeiten aus Afrika, Asien, Ozeanien und Amerika aus der Sammlung Ghysels, Speyer 1999, p. 156