Object Number | 18023L |
Current Location | Collections Storage |
Provenience | Marquesas Islands |
Section | Oceanian |
Materials | Bone |
Description | Carved bone. Formerly used by chiefs' wives and daughters. The ornament is made in two pieces: a cap, usually made of shell, with a cavity lined with soft wood into which fits a shank extending from one end of the ornament proper. The usual material for the latter is said to have been bone from the skeleton of a relative of the original wearer, the figures representing ancestors. These ornaments were highly valued and were inherited in the female line. |
Length | 6 cm |
Width | 2.8 cm |
Outside Diameter | 2.8 cm |
Credit Line | Gift of William Pepper, 1891 |
Report problems and issues to digitalmedia@pennmuseum.org.