Women's headress, a perak, a strip of red cloth decorated with turquoise beads and metal broaches. Two black felt flaps with metal decoration. A triangular piece of cloth decorated with circles of beads. A metal broch with 4 rows of white beads attached. Includes photograph of women wearing a similar one. Donor visited Ladakh several times between 1979 and 1986. "The woman from whom I bought the headdress was getting a new, bigger and more expensive one and was very happy to sell me her old one. The sale was dependent upon her keeping the big center turquoise headstone because that was a family heirloom; so a headstone is missing from mine. The photograph on the wall above is not of the woman from whom I bought the headdress, but someone else I photographed."
Perak is a bridal headress decorated with blue turquoise, coral, shells and other precious stones. Perak sits ontop a bride's head and expands outwards on both sides, and runs from the bride's forehead till the lower back. Two black flaps attach to the headress which traditionally are made from black animal hair and yak felt. Perak is a prized possession, and is passed from mother to daughter.
