Tattoo Pattern

Flat piece of wood carved to leave a pattern in high relief. The block is inked and pressed onto the skin as a guide for the tattooing. Similar to a patttern identified by Hose and Shelford as a "Kayan bead (lukut) design, tatued on the wrist of men." Motif is a an example of the Kayan lukut or bead design, tattooed on the outside of a man's wrist to stand in for the antique bead worn on a string around the wrist to ward off disease (and to serve the same function).