The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.142

v1.c10.142

The transition from an angle of 50 to the crown of the head was easy, and the forms in which the hair was arranged there, were various. The most common, and perhaps the most graceful of its kind, is shown in Illustration No. 104. It has [94] much the character of the military forage cap which was in use until the first quarter of this century, with the cheek strap passing across from the forehead backward. The strap is edged with two strings of pearls or beads, and has a metal button on the top. The brow has a double string of pearls with a star in the middle, and an ornament on each side very much like a peacock's crest. Judging from the character of the figures on which it occurs, I am disposed to think that this style was in fashion among the frail sisterhood of ancient Orissa. The lady shown in Illustration No. 58 has no strap, and only one string of pearls on her brow; the upper coil of her chignon is larger and made of hair. Her male companion has his hair tied in the same way, but being short, is seen curling into a mass on the top of the tie. A modification of this style may be seen in Illustration No. 105, where the strap and crests are omitted, the pearls are replaced by a tiara, and the hair is entwined with oblique courses of what, in the present day in India, is gold lace or embroidered ribbon. Illustration No. 106 represents another modification in which the central coil is reduced in size and raised considerably above the crown, and the crests are supplanted by curling masses of hair.