A TODA ‘BULLS HEAD’ GOLD NECKLACE
Southern India, mid-19th to early 20th century. The central pendant finely cast, embossed and chiseled in form of an abstract bull head. The chain assembled of four different types of segments, totaling to 80 pieces.

Provenance: From a private collection in Vienna, Austria. Acquired for ATS 38.000,- (ca. 2.500 Euro) at Galerie Zacke in “Alter exklusiver Schmuck aus Indien und Tibet”, lot 2, Vienna, ca. 1990. A copy of the respective catalogue entry is accompanying this lot.
Condition: Superb condition with old wear, a few minuscule nicks and a good natural patina.

Weight: 33.8 grams
Dimensions: Length ca. 25 cm

Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Nilgiri Mountains of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonization, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a loose caste-like society, in which the Toda were the top ranking. During the 20th century, the Toda population has hovered in the range 700 to 900. Although an insignificant fraction of the large population of India, since the early 19th century the Toda have attracted “a most disproportionate amount of attention because of their ethnological aberrancy” and “their unlikeness to their neighbors in appearance, manners, and customs.” The study of their culture by anthropologists and linguists proved significant in developing the fields of social anthropology and ethnomusicology.