4236

Extremely Rare, Pedigreed, Atayal Headhunter Money Jacket

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:700.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Extremely Rare, Pedigreed, Atayal Headhunter Money Jacket
SOLD
1,800.00USD+ buyer's premium (360.00)
This item SOLD at 2021 Mar 12 @ 12:39UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
Lot: 4236
Header:
Title: Extremely Rare, Pedigreed, Atayal Headhunter Money Jacket
Description: Perhaps the rarest and most valuable item (at the time) in the entire auction is this beaded jacket made by members of the aboriginal (Gaoshan in Chinese) Atayal headhunter tribe of the mountainous northeast portion of Taiwan, before 1900. Each jacket has about 2,600 strings of beads, and each string has about 20 to 25 beads, depending on size. So the whole jacket is covered with over 50,000 stone or shell beads, each hand made by a native one at a time. They were then sewn to hand-dyed, homespun cloth. A single jacket took over a year to make. Naturally they were extremely valuable; such a jacket could purchase fine cattle—or several wives.

During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, 1895-1945, many jackets were taken to Japan and cut up for their beautiful beadwork. When an original jacket was discovered in Taiwan seven years ago, it was a major news story. See Opitz, pp. 166-67.
Low Estimate: 1500
High Estimate: 3000
Pedigree Collection: Believed to be ex Hans M.F. Schulman George L. Lee Collection Auction, Part I (Feb. 14, 1958), lot 949 (unsold), then Hans M.F. Schulman Public Auction Sale Feb. 28, 1959, lot 2418, to Nate S. Shapiro, to Detroit Money Museum Apr. 28, 1960; sold at Craig A. Whitford auction Nov. 30, 1992; bought by Ken Bressett. It hung in Ken's closet for years until his wife, Bert, made him get rid of it, and Mr. Opitz was able to acquire it in trade.