Set Of Three Sacred Ornaments
"FOREST SNAILS"
(YAWALAPITIS - XINGU - BRAZILIAN AMAZON)
Brazil, Upper Xingu region
20th century.
Shells of forest snails (lamellae), vegetable fibers
Provenance: Jean-Pierre Dutilleux Collection
Exhibition: "Le Monde Premier", Belgium
⸻
EXCEPTIONAL MUSEUM ENSEMBLE
Rare homogeneous set of three Yawalapitis ceremonial ornaments consisting of thin slats shaped in forest snail shells, carefully calibrated and then mounted on flexible structures in twisted vegetable fibers.
These pieces were designated by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux under the name:
"Sacred necklaces in forest snails"
Name officially included in the multilingual exhibition devices accompanying the collection during the Le Monde Premier exhibition.
The conservation of this complete ensemble, accompanied by its original exhibition nominate in four languages, is a particularly rare fact in the field of early arts and field ethnographic collections.
⸻
Work
The three ornaments present a remarkable coherence of construction while revealing subtle variations in dimensions, rhythm and calibration of the slats.
Each collar consists of a dense assembly of thin organic plates cut out of forest shells and then held by direct clamping on a structure entirely made of braided vegetable fibers.
The serial organization of the elements produces a particularly powerful visual vibration:
The regular repetition of the slats creates a real worn architecture, oscillating between body ording, minimal construction and organic sculpture.
The natural whiteness of the shells - nuanced by time, use and organic variations of matter - gives the whole a visual presence of rare intensity.
The reverse of the pieces reveals an entirely traditional manufacture:
Total absence of modern materials,
Non-standard manual assembly,
Old vegetable fibers,
Coherent ligatures with real use.
The patinated closure cords testify to effective wear and authentic ceremonial use.
⸻
ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
These adornments belong to the corpus of prestige ornaments associated with the societies of the Upper Xingu, in which body adornments play a fundamental role in social, ceremonial and identity expression.
In Xingu cultures, the ornament is never purely decorative:
It is a structured visual language participating:
To the affirmation of status,
The visibility of the rank,
To the staging of the body,
The ceremonial integration of the individual into the group.
The use of clear materials from organic shells is fully in line with the visual aesthetics of the peoples of Upper Xingu, where annular compositions and circular structures occupy an essential place in the balance of ornaments.
The very name of "Forest Snails", preserved by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux in the exhibition devices, testifies to the symbolic and cultural importance given to this organic matter collected in the Amazonian forest environment.
⸻
ORIGIN AND IMPORTANCE
From the sets collected by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux during his field missions in the Brazilian Amazon, this corpus has all the characteristics of an ancient ethnographic set preserved in its documentary integrity:
Direct origin of the field,
Perfect typological coherence,
Non-standardized traditional construction,
Homogeneous patinas,
Preserved exhibition documentation,
Film correspondence in the archives of Jean-Pierre Dutilleux.
Comparable ornaments appear in several filmed sequences made during the Amazonian expeditions dedicated to the Xingu populations.
Simultaneous storage:
Of the three copies,
Of their overall coherence,
Of the original multilingual noinette,
As well as associated documentary archives,
Gives this group a particularly rare museum dimension.
⸻
State
Very good general state of conservation.
Presence of slight traces of soiling and use consistent with the age and ceremonial use of the pieces.
Old discreet punctual restorations on some slats.
Remarkably preserved general structures.
⸻
DIMENSIONS
Large copy n°1
Without the cords:
Length: 33cm
Large copy n°2
Dimensions close to the previous one, with larger format slats.
Small copy
Lower dimensions retaining the same structural and ethnographic coherence.
⸻
Appreciation
By their formal coherence, the sophistication of their construction and their exceptional documentary provenance, these three ornaments far exceed the framework of the traditional ethnographic ornament.
The whole is now a real museum corpus dedicated to the cultures of the Upper Xingu and the documentary universe developed by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux around the first peoples of the Amazon.
Rare survival of a ceremonial set preserved with:
Its original exhibition name,
Its documentary coherence,
And its direct correspondence with the field film archives.
A film extract from the archives of Jean-Pierre Dutilleux documenting the wearing of comparable ornaments accompanies this set:
Film Archives Jean-Pierre Dutilleux
(YAWALAPITIS - XINGU - BRAZILIAN AMAZON)
Brazil, Upper Xingu region
20th century.
Shells of forest snails (lamellae), vegetable fibers
Provenance: Jean-Pierre Dutilleux Collection
Exhibition: "Le Monde Premier", Belgium
⸻
EXCEPTIONAL MUSEUM ENSEMBLE
Rare homogeneous set of three Yawalapitis ceremonial ornaments consisting of thin slats shaped in forest snail shells, carefully calibrated and then mounted on flexible structures in twisted vegetable fibers.
These pieces were designated by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux under the name:
"Sacred necklaces in forest snails"
Name officially included in the multilingual exhibition devices accompanying the collection during the Le Monde Premier exhibition.
The conservation of this complete ensemble, accompanied by its original exhibition nominate in four languages, is a particularly rare fact in the field of early arts and field ethnographic collections.
⸻
Work
The three ornaments present a remarkable coherence of construction while revealing subtle variations in dimensions, rhythm and calibration of the slats.
Each collar consists of a dense assembly of thin organic plates cut out of forest shells and then held by direct clamping on a structure entirely made of braided vegetable fibers.
The serial organization of the elements produces a particularly powerful visual vibration:
The regular repetition of the slats creates a real worn architecture, oscillating between body ording, minimal construction and organic sculpture.
The natural whiteness of the shells - nuanced by time, use and organic variations of matter - gives the whole a visual presence of rare intensity.
The reverse of the pieces reveals an entirely traditional manufacture:
Total absence of modern materials,
Non-standard manual assembly,
Old vegetable fibers,
Coherent ligatures with real use.
The patinated closure cords testify to effective wear and authentic ceremonial use.
⸻
ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
These adornments belong to the corpus of prestige ornaments associated with the societies of the Upper Xingu, in which body adornments play a fundamental role in social, ceremonial and identity expression.
In Xingu cultures, the ornament is never purely decorative:
It is a structured visual language participating:
To the affirmation of status,
The visibility of the rank,
To the staging of the body,
The ceremonial integration of the individual into the group.
The use of clear materials from organic shells is fully in line with the visual aesthetics of the peoples of Upper Xingu, where annular compositions and circular structures occupy an essential place in the balance of ornaments.
The very name of "Forest Snails", preserved by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux in the exhibition devices, testifies to the symbolic and cultural importance given to this organic matter collected in the Amazonian forest environment.
⸻
ORIGIN AND IMPORTANCE
From the sets collected by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux during his field missions in the Brazilian Amazon, this corpus has all the characteristics of an ancient ethnographic set preserved in its documentary integrity:
Direct origin of the field,
Perfect typological coherence,
Non-standardized traditional construction,
Homogeneous patinas,
Preserved exhibition documentation,
Film correspondence in the archives of Jean-Pierre Dutilleux.
Comparable ornaments appear in several filmed sequences made during the Amazonian expeditions dedicated to the Xingu populations.
Simultaneous storage:
Of the three copies,
Of their overall coherence,
Of the original multilingual noinette,
As well as associated documentary archives,
Gives this group a particularly rare museum dimension.
⸻
State
Very good general state of conservation.
Presence of slight traces of soiling and use consistent with the age and ceremonial use of the pieces.
Old discreet punctual restorations on some slats.
Remarkably preserved general structures.
⸻
DIMENSIONS
Large copy n°1
Without the cords:
Length: 33cm
Large copy n°2
Dimensions close to the previous one, with larger format slats.
Small copy
Lower dimensions retaining the same structural and ethnographic coherence.
⸻
Appreciation
By their formal coherence, the sophistication of their construction and their exceptional documentary provenance, these three ornaments far exceed the framework of the traditional ethnographic ornament.
The whole is now a real museum corpus dedicated to the cultures of the Upper Xingu and the documentary universe developed by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux around the first peoples of the Amazon.
Rare survival of a ceremonial set preserved with:
Its original exhibition name,
Its documentary coherence,
And its direct correspondence with the field film archives.
A film extract from the archives of Jean-Pierre Dutilleux documenting the wearing of comparable ornaments accompanies this set:
Film Archives Jean-Pierre Dutilleux
https://youtu.be/Z6agbxKk6dA?is=zURDxhjfQPps9GzY
45 000 €
Period: 20th century
Style: Tribal Art
Condition: En l'etat
Reference (ID): 1773457
Availability: In stock
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