Portrait of a young Apatani woman

This portrait of a young Apatani woman shows the ornaments and facial decoration worn at the time : traditionally, young girls were tattooed and wooden plugs were placed in their nostrils : at age five or six, these tattoo lines were made by pricking the skin with thorns and then rubbing in a mixtur...

Full description

Full title: Portrait of a young Apatani woman [electronic resource] English.
Format: Photo           
Language: English
Published: [S.l.] : [s.n.], 1944.
Series: SOAS Digital Library.
FURER.
RSA.
PHOTOS.
Subjects:
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Summary: This portrait of a young Apatani woman shows the ornaments and facial decoration worn at the time : traditionally, young girls were tattooed and wooden plugs were placed in their nostrils : at age five or six, these tattoo lines were made by pricking the skin with thorns and then rubbing in a mixture of coal black and cooking oil : One line was drawn from forehead to the tip of the nose, and another five on the chin : about the same age, a young girl's nostrils were pierced and wooden pins inserted : a few years later, when the hole was large enough, wooden plugs, also blackened with soot and oil, were inserted : In 1974, however, the Apatani Youth Association demanded that these practices be abandoned, and today tattoos and nose-plugs are only seen on women above 35-40 years of age : the large hoop, brass earrings are also no longer worn, and the thick tangle of beads, though still seen, is increasingly unpopular : Similarly, her hairstyle and coarse cotton skirt have been replaced by other fashions : and today a woman her age would wear a top garment.
Language: English
Published: [S.l.] : [s.n.], 1944.
Subjects:
Series: SOAS Digital Library.
FURER.
RSA.
PHOTOS.
Access: © 1944, The Estate of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. The Estate is currently (2015) represented by Nicholas Haimendorf, son of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. ----- Creative Commons (by-nc-nd). -- This image may be used in accord with Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs.
Place of Publication: India -- Arunachal Pradesh -- Lower Subansiri District -- Apatani River valley.