A NORTHERN LUZON BELT ORNAMENT, the large shell with finely incised and blackened border of honey-comb motif, triangles and other geometric motifs, pierced at the centre for attachment

细节
A NORTHERN LUZON BELT ORNAMENT, the large shell with finely incised and blackened border of honey-comb motif, triangles and other geometric motifs, pierced at the centre for attachment
18.5cm. wide

拍品专文

Susan Rodgers (Power and Gold, Geneva, 1985) relates that according to Beday-Brandicourt they [the belt ornaments] were signs of high noble status, or headhunter prowess, and were ideally confined to men who had taken at least one head. The ornaments were supposedly quite expensive. One explanation for this is that only a good hunter or a noble could afford to mount the necessary expedition to and from the coast - where the shells are found - without losing his head on the way. It is more likely that trade pact-holders controlled access to these