1914.69.10

Collection type

Object

Description

Ceremonial baton or back pendant. [ZM 2/6/2016]

Long description

Cylindrical wooden baton inlaid with cut and polished pieces of pearl shell. A length of twisted plant fibre with an attached shell disc is threaded through holes carved at one end. Described in the relevant literature as a symbol of status worn by a warrior hanging from a neck cord down the back between the shoulder blades. [ZM 2/6/2016]

Geographical reference

Solomon Islands

Oceania > Melanesia > Solomon Islands

Malaita

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 Pearl Shell, Material Wood Plant, Material Plant Fibre, Material Pigment, Process Inlaid, Process Carved, Process Twisted, Process Painted, Process Perforated, Process Tied, Process Polished

Dimensions

Diameter: max 20 mm, Length: max 333 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1914.69.10 Other numbers: 1914.ß.278

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]

There is a very similar baton to this on page 117 of Pacific Jewelry and Adornment by Roger Neich and Fuli Pereira (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004), which is captioned on page 116 as follows: 'WARI HAU, BATON WITH KNOB OF IRON PYRITES SOUTH MALAITA, SOLOMON ISLANDS These batons were made by the Areare people at the south-west end of Malaita and consist of a knob of iron pyrites that is covered with fine plaiting and lashed to the wooden handle with strips of cane. The handle is inlaid with Nautilus shell. They were worn suspended from a cord around the neck and hung down on the wearer's back with the knob uppermost. As a strictly ceremonial baton, their wearing was said to have been limited to those men authorised to claim payment for an execution. However, other earlier accounts suggest that they were worn more widely by men at ceremonial dancing.' This type of object is also discussed on page 28 as an example of Pacific jewellery acting 'with the symbolic power to counter the physical aggression of others...An executioner appointed by the elders in Malaita in the Solomon Islands wore the shell-inlaid wari-hau baton down his back to show that he acted with the approved authority of the community leaders.' [ZM 15/05/2015]

For background information about these batons in the East Kwaio region of Malaita see David Akin "Kwaio Fou'atoleeleo" in Pacific Arts Newsletter, No. 14 January 1982 pages 6-9 [ZM 2/6/2016]

Search terms: Ornament, Ritual and Ceremonial, Status, Back Ornament, Status Object, Ceremonial Object, Club, Dance Accessory