Naga tribes live on either side of the border between northeastern India (Assam, Manipur, Nagaland) and Burma (Myanmar). Naga were previously feared head hunters, who fiercely resisted British colonisation up to 1892. Such upper arm bracelets belonged to a Naga warrior’s traditional costume and ornamentation. Sometimes the bracelets were also made of ivory, but today at Naga feasts (at which the Naga do wear they traditional costumes) only light-coloured wooden bracelets are to be seen. The present pair of authentic Naga upper arm bracelets is old and reliably made of the thigh-bone of a slain elephant. Four cut-out all-round bulging rings trim the bracelets at the top and at the bottom. While two rows of cowrie shells grace the space in between (on the outside) of these slightly conical bracelets. With the cowries polished ‘to their lips’ and pierced for the purposes, so that they may fit in and be ‘sewn’ into already made holes in the bracelets’ thicker bone. Both these meticulously made Naga warrior ornaments exhibit on the outside and especially on the inside a good, smooth and shiny patina — the result of protracted wear — as well as a few light age-related cracks on the darkened bone. There is a traversing tear with an original repair (done by piercing and stitching the bone). Roughly ten of the 90 cowrie shells have been lost in the course of the long time of its use. H: each c. 12 cm; DM: both bracelets: c. 9 cm x 11 cm (at the top) and 11 cm x 14 cm (at the bottom). Between the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. (ME)

ASA