Crown
- Crown
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This crown symbolizes the fertility and longevity of a clan. The ancestor face represents esteem for the clan founder; the roosters, male status; and the Tree of Life, fertility and ancestral lineage.
The Moluccas Islands are located in eastern Indonesia. The islands' many cultures used gold objects as signs of social status, and to celebrate new family alliances at marriages. Gold adornments, embodying the spirits of ancestors, help guarantee the survival of family lineages. This elegant crown was made to be worn by a female member of local royalty on important ritual occasions. Gold dangles attached with wire flash upon movement. The roosters represent male elements, and their feathers rise toward the face of an ancestor crowned with the Tree of Life, a symbol of community continuity.
Provenance[Frank Wiggers, Insulinde Indonesian Arts, Forest Knolls, California, before 2006]; purchased by MFAH, 2006.
Published References Published: Rodgers, Susan et al., POWER AND GOLD, Jewelry from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Geneva: Prestel-Verlag, 1988, p. 214, fig. 145. Feldman, Jerome et al, THE ELOQUENT DEAD, Ancestral Sculpture of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History UCLA, 1985, p. 183, fig. 238a. de Jonge, Nico and van Dijk, Toos, FORGOTTEN ISLANDS OF INDONESIA, The Art and Culture of the Southeast Moluccas, Hong Kong: Periplus Editions, 1995, p. 118, photograph 7.12. Stöhr, W. et al., ART OF THE ARCHAIC INDONESIANS, Dallas: Dallas Museum of Fine Art, 1982, p. 143, fig. 93 (for comparison with the 'mask portion' of this wutulai).
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