Media Reviews: The Jewelry of Nepal

The Jewelry of Nepal
by Hannelore Gabriel
published by Weatherhill, Inc., New York, NY. 1999
Hardback, color & black-and-white, 10-1/2” X 12”, 224 pages, $60.00

Reviewed by Ilene Sternberg.

What Angela Fisher did in showcasing indigenous tribal jewelry in Africa Adorned and what Oppi Untracht did in his meticulously researched study, Traditional Jewelry of India, Hannelore Gabriel has now accomplished in The Jewelry of Nepal.

For twenty years, Gabriel, a jewelry designer, collector, and self-proclaimed “closet anthropologist,” made annual month-long visits to Nepal to study and photograph jewelry pieces as Nepalese women in their natural geographic and cultural settings wear them. The miles and hours of hazardous trekking to remote villages, surviving landslides, and other unpredictable mishaps has yielded a remarkable contribution to the literature of ethnic jewelry.

Sorting out the variety of jewelry styles in a land of such topographical and ethnological diversity presents a formidable challenge. There are as many as 60 ethnic and caste groups, speaking at least 36 languages, practicing equally numerous varieties and blends of animism, Hinduism, and Buddhism in Nepal. These factors, plus the degree of isolation from one another dictated by environmental extremes within this relatively small country, make sorting out origins and influences quite an undertaking.

But Gabriel manages to distill her findings and categorize the jewelry into five distinguishable types worn by the Newar, Tibeto-Nepalese, Indo-Nepalese, Tharu, and Tibeto-Burman Middle Hills groups. There are chapters devoted to each of these, showing examples in over 350 stunning photos, mostly in color, and explaining the symbolism and significance of each object to its owner on both a personal and cultural level.

She also enlightens us about the history of the “everyday” and ceremonial jewelry, its function, and how religion and superstition play into the designs and materials used, during the course of which we learn a great deal about the history of Nepal. There is a chapter devoted to the ritual jewelry of the shamans and a visit with the Kumari, the living goddesses of Nepal.

When describing jewelry makers and techniques, the author gives us an informative mini-course in bead and bangle making, goldsmithing, and other metalworking techniques. Especially helpful is a brief segment providing tips on how and where to buy jewelry in Nepal, including advice on cleaning and care of the collection. By pointing out that when jewelry is separated from its Nepalese owner it inevitably loses some of its meaningfulness, Gabriel demonstrates great sensitivity toward her subject.

Wistfully, she tells us how fashion trends prevail even in the most remote corners of the globe, and how the wearing and appreciation of these fine traditional artifacts is disappearing. Younger women, in particular, whose interest in being modern jeopardizes the survival of these wonderful pieces, are creating a demand for new and less distinctive, universal styles, resulting in the treasures being melted down and reformed into lighter, more trendy jewelry. At least with this book we are given an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with these “endangered species” before they disappear.