H x W x D: 5 x 5 x 5cm (1 15/16 x 1 15/16 x 1 15/16in.)
Type:
Textile and Fiber Arts
Geography:
Kenya
Date:
Mid-20th century
Label Text:
Men and women in the Great Rift Valley wear labrets, which pierce the lower lip. This example worn by Turkana male elders gives the impression of being a traditional, perhaps even an ancient, body adornment. Nineteenth-century accounts, however, indicate the Turkana only had metal jewelry; ivory labrets were not documented until the 1920s.
Description:
Ivory labret composed of a sphere with a flat topped wood spike insert.
Provenance:
Katherine Ream Sobeck, collected Kenya, 1968-1970 to 2004
Exhibition History:
Treasures 2008, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 9-August 24, 2008
Published References:
Patton, Sharon F. and Bryna Freyer. 2008. Treasures 2008. Washington D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 102-103.
Hornbeck, Stephanie. 2016. "Ivory: I dentification and Regulation of a Precious Material." National Museum of African Art Conservation Lab publication. p.3.
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