Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung province: A dye bowl made of iron, for dying one’s teeth black. 19th century. Rare!
Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung province: A dye bowl made of iron, for dying one’s teeth black. 19th century. Rare!
Up to the end of the 19th century, it was both traditional and conformed to ideals of beauty in southern Sumatra (Lampung province) to dye the sharply filed teeth of adults black. Soot-based dye made of burned twigs was used. Such dye bowls made of forged iron were used for the teeth-dying ceremonies, to burn the twigs and stir the soot into dye.
The present iron dye bowl is in the form of a dragon, imaginatively and expertly forged and riveted together from many parts. Toward the end of the 19th century, the tradition of tooth-dying was discontinued in southern Sumatra.
The dye bowl presented here is almost complete and in very good condition. Rare!
19th century; H: 17 cm, L: 42 cm.
Provenance: Collection of Prof. Rudolf Leopold, Vienna. (ME)
Lit.: ‘Sieraden en Lichaamsversiering uit Indonesie’, by Rita Wassing-Visser, Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara Delft, ill. 16, 17.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
26.05.2015 - 15:00
- Estimate:
-
EUR 1,200.- to EUR 1,600.-
Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung province: A dye bowl made of iron, for dying one’s teeth black. 19th century. Rare!
Up to the end of the 19th century, it was both traditional and conformed to ideals of beauty in southern Sumatra (Lampung province) to dye the sharply filed teeth of adults black. Soot-based dye made of burned twigs was used. Such dye bowls made of forged iron were used for the teeth-dying ceremonies, to burn the twigs and stir the soot into dye.
The present iron dye bowl is in the form of a dragon, imaginatively and expertly forged and riveted together from many parts. Toward the end of the 19th century, the tradition of tooth-dying was discontinued in southern Sumatra.
The dye bowl presented here is almost complete and in very good condition. Rare!
19th century; H: 17 cm, L: 42 cm.
Provenance: Collection of Prof. Rudolf Leopold, Vienna. (ME)
Lit.: ‘Sieraden en Lichaamsversiering uit Indonesie’, by Rita Wassing-Visser, Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara Delft, ill. 16, 17.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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| Auction: | Tribal Art |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 26.05.2015 - 15:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 20.05. - 26.05.2015 |