A pair of Lio gold teardrop-shaped ear pendants Central Flores, Indonesian archipelago, 19th century or earlier | 十九世紀或更早 印尼群島弗洛勒斯中部 Lio族金耳飾一對

The long, narrow island of Flores is one of the islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. The name Flores is the Portuguese word for 'flowers' and was given by Portuguese traders and missionaries when they came to the island in the 16th century.

On the eastern part of the island lie the Lio tribe, which hold a fascinating belief towards gold ornaments. They believe that gold is animate and associated with life in a profound sense. It is imbued with the spiritual and life forces. The life force within gold jewellery parallels the potential for new life brought to a marriage by a young, fertile woman. 

With a full-bellied, rounded oval shape and fringed by airy openwork, this type of Lio ear pendants are referred to as riti by Lio themselves, or as ate sage by Nagé people. The term ate sage derives from a complex concept that combines ideas of both the heart and mind. 

The curling plant-like motif cut from gold sheet symbolises the womb of the ancestral mother, as depicted on the walls of Lio clan houses. These earrings are meant to be given to a young woman by her fiancé and are sometimes massed together and worn as necklaces. 

弗洛勒斯島是印尼東部小巽他群島的其中一個島嶼，島形狹長。島嶼的名字源自十六世紀，由葡萄牙商人及傳道士取名，葡萄牙文意為「花卉」。

 Lio族聚居於弗洛勒斯島東部，當地原居民認為黃金帶有著靈魂，視其為生物，黃金箇中的生命力可比女性生育力。

耳飾呈橢圓形，象徵女性及繁殖力，耳飾周邊配上精緻的藤蔓紋飾。Lio族稱此類耳飾為「riti」，而另一個部落納格族人則稱之為「ate sage」。「ate sage」一詞帶心神合一之意，可見耳飾對族人的重要性。

此類耳飾應為訂婚信物，可成對佩戴於耳上，亦可單件掛於項鍊。