condensed discuss document expanded export feedback print share remove reset document_white enquire_white export_white report_white
discuss document export feedback print share gallery-landscape xml

Selu

human history
  • Other Name

    Comb (English)

  • Description

    Selu. Comb. This particular type of comb may also be referred to as selu tuiga. This comb is of Samoa and made for the purposes of adorning the hair, primarily for female but can also be worn by male. It is made up of three components: tuāniu (coconut leaflet midrib), wire and glass beads. It is vertical in nature and its framework is made entirely from dried brown tuāniu. The base area shows a row of twenty-five tuāniu, two of which are broken at basal end.

    These are lined neatly in a flared manner and used as selu teeth for hair insertion. Across the teeth near the base is a section of wire lashings with attachments of multi-coloured glass beads. Further up in the mid-section of selu, numerous multi-coloured glass beads are threaded into loops through the tuāniu, up the side and across the body, some of which are showing to be loose. The upper or crowning area of the selu shows the truncation of most tuāniu leaving only three sets of tuāniu in the centre and on both sides. Each sets are intermittently lashed securely by wire. These sets of tuāniu join at the top and are tied together, producing a pinnacle as the crowning of the selu.

  • Place
  • Accession Number
    1929.303
  • Accession Date
    1929
  • Other Id

    4341.2 (ethnology)

  • Department
comb, 1929.303, 4341.2, Photographed by Jennifer Carol,… … Read more

Images and documents

Images

    Artefact

    The development of the Auckland War Memorial Museum online collection is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

    The gift of curiosity

    With unlimited free entry to all paid exhibitions, discounted event tickets and exclusive Member-only events, a Museum Membership is the gift that keeps on giving year-round.

    SEE OPTIONS FROM $60

    The gift of curiosity