Date: First half of 20th century
Area: Taiwan
Dimensions: Height 97 cm, Width 51 cm

• Object Type：
  • OTHERS
• Location：
  • Chinese Minority Nationalities' Art Gallery
• Tag：
  • vest dress shell atayal gaoshan 20th century taiwan

The chief of the Atayal of Gaoshan people in Taiwan used to wear the shell-bead vest as a symbol of wealth. It is threaded with nearly 100,000 carefully polished tiny shell-beads. Thread the irregular beads first and then polish them on the sand paper till they become regular, and then sew them on linen to make the vest. As the shell bead vest is very time consuming and features unique craft, simple as it is, it is a symbol of status and wealth.