Dominating a New Caledonian kanak village was the tall beehive-shaped house of the chief or main elder, standing at the upper end of a ceremonial avenue. This house had a carved doorway with other carved figures inside but the most important carving was the spire projecting through the apex of the roof. As a stylized human figure, this carving was a symbolic representation of the chief and an emblem of chiefdom and kanak society as a whole. Attached to the spire were sacred shells with a packet of special herbs that served as the ultimate symbol of the individual chief living in the house. At the death of this chief, the shells and herbs were removed by his maternal uncles and became part of the treasures of the wider clan. This important early carving was purchased in 1944 from Mr. G.E.A. Butler who had a small well-localized collection of artifacts mainly from New Caledonia.