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Women's Ornamental Comb (hai kara jangga)
East Sumba
20th century, 1950–2000
Object Place: East Sumba, Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda Islands), Indonesia
Medium/Technique
Tortoiseshell
Dimensions
Overall: 16 x 18 x 5 cm (6 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
Lender accessory (Approximately): 16 x 20 x 5 cm (6 5/16 x 7 7/8 x 1 15/16 in.)
Lender accessory (Approximately): 16 x 20 x 5 cm (6 5/16 x 7 7/8 x 1 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession Number2009.2746
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Contemporary Art, Africa and Oceania
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Diadems
Interest in ornaments and utilitarian objects from Indonesian arts grew strongly in the 1970s. Among such objects were delicate tortoiseshell diadems from eastern Sumba. The carved openwork upper register reveals a pair of roosters on top, confronting each other. The lower register features a kind of tree that served as village ritual sites. Fathers traditionally gave their daughters a tortoiseshell diadem at puberty.
ProvenanceAcquired in New York by Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)