1914.69.1

Collection type

Object

Description

War charm.

Long description

War charm. Carved, incised, and painted wooden head atop a body made of long red-black feathers. Worn by warriors at the back of the neck. [JC 11 1 2002]

Geographical reference

Papua New Guinea

Oceania > Melanesia > Papua New Guinea

Admiralty Islands Bismarck Archipelago

Person

Field collector Samuel Sheppard

PRM source Samuel Sheppard

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1914

Date collected

By 1914

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1914

Materials and processes

Material Bird Feather, Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Incised, Process Painted

Dimensions

Length: max 530 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1914.69.1 Other numbers: 1914.ß.269

Research and responses

On Tuesday 1 September 1914 while in Brisbane, Australia as part of the British Association for the Advancement of Science trip, Henry Balfour records in his diary: 'Found a shop with some interesting native curios (Samuel Sheppard, 201 Albert Str.) + bought several things.' [CRFW 27/1/2003, JC 24 5 2013]

This object was shown at a meeting of the Oxford University Anthropology Society on 26.11.1914 when Balfour showed a series of objects [AP 27/02/2006]

For very similar objects see plate 52 on page 65 of Anna Edmundson and Chris Boylan, Adorned: Traditional Jewellery and Body Decoration from Australia and the Pacific (University of Sydney: Macleay Museum, 1999), which are described on page 107 as follows: 'War charms, Admiralty Islands, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, 19th century, wood, pigments, frigate bird feathers, resin, plant fibre...War charms were used throughout the Admiralty Islands until the end of the nineteenth century. They were talismans carried into battle to protect the wearer from both the enemy and evil spirits. The war charm projected out from the back of the neck, secured by a string around the neck. An ancestor's bone was sometimes incorporated into the charm to increase its potency.' [ZM 08/07/2015]

Search terms: Ritual and Ceremonial, Status, Figure, Ornament, Religion, Ceremonial Object, Status Object, Amulet, Neck Ornament