Phami-Akha Headdresses from Thailand

• country - Thailand
• materials - silver, textile, glass beads, silver coins, dyed goat’s hair, chicken feathers, and baboon fur
• object - headdress
• object date - mid-19th Century
• source - Jon Goldney, Adelaide

Left, a Phami-Akha headdress, collected in Thailand. Most Akhas now live in the northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, constituting one of the largest of the hill tribes. The piece weighs a total of 3 kg, is in largely original and excellent condition, and was sold to us many years ago by excellent Adelaide collector John Goldney. This example is illustrated in Truus Daalder’s book Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment. The headdress on the right also comes from the Phami-Akha, and it is another good but different enough example. This also came to us from John Goldney, but too late for it to be illustrated in Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment.