IFUGAO HEADHUNTER'S CHARM, C.1850

Under Spanish colonial rule, Philippine natives lived in isolation, relatively unaffected by the outside world. In the North, headhunting, and cannibalism were part of most cultures. The Ifugao of the central Luzon highlands maintained those practices until the turn of the twentieth century. Bronze, 3/4" height. Form descended from the ancient nose ring and worn as a neck pendant in the 18th and 19th centuries. See Beads of the World, Francis, page 98.