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A gold royal chain (kantar) Sumba, Indonesia, 19th Century or earlier image 1
A gold royal chain (kantar) Sumba, Indonesia, 19th Century or earlier image 2
Lot 184

A gold royal chain (kantar)
Sumba, Indonesia, 19th Century or earlier

22 May 2025, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£8,000 - £12,000

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A gold royal chain (kantar)
Sumba, Indonesia, 19th Century or earlier

the heavy chain finely braided with gold wire, the terminals each consisting of a cylindrical base with stylised flaring naga heads containing openwork and spiral elements
101.7 cm. long; 238 g.

Footnotes

A kantar, or kanatar, a sign of authority and function, would have probably been worn by the highest nobility or by a king's personal entourage to convey his master's wealth and power, or by his personal slave who mediated between the mundane and the spiritual worlds (see Anne Richter, The Jewelry of Southeast Asia, London, 2000, p. 205, No. 232 for further information and a comparable kantar). For other examples of royal chains, see Miksic, Old Javanese Gold, New Haven, 2011, p.114, pl. 11, and Capistrano-Baker, Philippine Gold, New York, 2015, p.45, fig.6. For a comparable example sold in these rooms, see Bonhams, Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art, 14 March 2016, lot 57.

Additional information