Nagaland Tangkhul Naga Elephant Ivory Men’s Ear Plugs
Two Nagaland Tangkhul Naga Elephant Ivory Men’s Ear Plugs Decorated with a Geometric design
Old smooth mellow patina
19th Century
Size: 3cm wide, 1.5cm high – 1¼ ins wide, ½ ins high (max)
See Finch & Co catalogue no. 15, item no. 66, for a single Naga ear plug
cf: circa 1890 photograph of Tangkhul men wearing ivory earplugs, Cambridge Centre For South Asian Studies
Old smooth mellow patina
19th Century
Size: 3cm wide, 1.5cm high – 1¼ ins wide, ½ ins high (max)
See Finch & Co catalogue no. 15, item no. 66, for a single Naga ear plug
cf: circa 1890 photograph of Tangkhul men wearing ivory earplugs, Cambridge Centre For South Asian Studies
The term ‘Naga’ originally meant ‘naked’ and was used by the Assamese for the hill people living high up in the mountains. It was also a blanket term that was unfortunately adopted by the British and previously used by the people of the plains, which had pejorative connotations and meant ‘wildman’ or ‘barbarian’. The census officials and administrators of post-colonial India also used the name, but now the Nagas want to be identified by their specific tribal names such as Angam, Ao, Chakesang, Sema, Rengma and Tangkhul.
Nagaland Tangkhul Naga Elephant Ivory Men’s Ear Plugs
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