Title
Bangle
Year/Period
Late 19th-early 20th century
Region
North Sumatra
Object Type
Dimension
Object size: 7.2 x 8.6 x 2.4 cm
Accession No.
2002-00644
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. Edmond Chin
This chiseled brass bangle from the Batak people, features a lizard motif. The lizard, called ‘ilik’ or ‘boraspati ni tano’, is a crucial house-protection spirit, warding off evil influences and is commonly found carved on the windows and doors of houses. The lizard also symbolises prosperity and fertility of the earth. Jewellery has many different functions in island Southeast Asia, for example it was used to indicate social positions, to symbolise the importance of the social relationship between the giver and the receiver during gift exchanges, and to serve as miniature religious objects.
