Description
The first book to inspect the wealthy jewelry traditions of the Batak people in Indonesia is a beautiful tribute to a vanishing way of living. Batak jewelry is characterized by all kinds of materials and forms, and has many functions: Jewels can also be status symbols, badges of rank, attributes of membership into a certain age group, amulets and talismans, or simply ornaments. Men, women, small children, or even babies were once adorned with gold, silver, brass, bronze, or the gold-and-copper alloy referred to as suasa. Nowadays, the Batak wear traditional jewelry only for celebrations like weddings, and these stunning works are all of a sudden disappearing, being melted down or sold. The nearly 300 precious works shown here are artifacts of a once-flourishing jewelry tradition.