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Collections Online

Collections record

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ornament, arm

On display
human history
  • Other Name

    Pen (Vanuatu)

  • Description

    armlet of shell and coconut shell beads. beads arranged in triangular patterns of black and white with a white bead border.

  • Place
    [Vanuatu]/[Melanesia]/[Pacific]
  • Accession Number
    1950.128
  • Accession Date
    04 Jul 1950
  • Other Id

    31586

  • Department

    Pacific

  • Display Room

    Pacific Lifeways

ornament, arm 31586, Cultural Permissions Apply

Images and documents

Images

  • ornament, arm 31586, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • ornament, arm 31586, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • ornament, arm 31586, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • ornament, arm 31586, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • armlet
  • armlet
  • armlet
  • armlet

Artefact

  • Display location

    Pacific Lifeways

  • Credit Line
    On loan from Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Gift of the New Zealand Government.
  • Public Access Text

    Traditional individually drilled discs of white shell and black coconut shell and coconut wood have been worked on to a plaited fibre foundation of native bark string to make these armbands. The technique attaches the discs in a characteristic sloping arrangement. Arm bands exactly like these collected on Ambrym in 1949 were said to indicate a man’s acquisition of a special ritual that was not associated with the local graded system.

    In the complex trading systems that linked Ambrym, Malekula and nearby islands, “copyrights” to new rituals could be purchased from trading partners.

  • Cultural Origin

    Ni-Vanuatu

  • Collection
    Oldman
  • Primary Maker

     unknown

  • Place
    [Vanuatu]/[Melanesia]/[Pacific]
  • Date
    Pre 1950
  • Media/Materials

    coconut shell/shell (plant material)/plant material

    shell

    [fibre]

  • Measurement Description
    height 185mm
  • Measurement Reading

    185mm

  • Classification

    Armlet

    Ornament, Arm

    Body Adornment

    Ornament

    Personal Artefacts

  • Last Update
    20 Aug 2021
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