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1884.19.277

Fishing spear.

1884.19.277

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Collection type
Object
Description
Fishing spear.
Long description
Fishing spear with four wooden points tipped and barbed with bone. The shaft is reed. The head and shaft are painted black, red and white. [AB [OPS move] 9/8/2018]
Date / Period
Date made: Possibly before 1874
Date collected
?By 1874
Acquisition information
Donated: 1884
Materials and processes
Material Stingray Spine Fish, Material Wood Plant, Material Reed Plant, Material Pigment, Process Carved, Process Bound, Process Painted, Material Animal Bone
Dimensions
Length: max 2722 mm, Width: max 35 mm, Depth: max 27 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1884.19.277 PR Cat other PR nos: 843
Research and responses

It is a long odds possibility that E. Higgins could be Edmund Thomas Higgins [ca 1816 - 1891 surgeon who in 1867 took over business of Samuel Stevens a natural history dealer]. He is mentioned in an article about Robert Bruce Napoleon Walker [see ‘Robert Bruce Napoleon Walker, FRGS, FAS, FGS CMZS (1832 - 1901) West African trader, explorer, and collector of zoological specimens’ Nora McMillan, Dept of Zoology, NMGS Merseyside Liverpool Museum, Archives of Natural History 1996 23 (1) 125-141] [AP 01/09/2004]

During a research visit in April 2025, Dany Williams from the Queensland Museum shared that the points of this spear might be made from stingray barbs. Closer examination is required in order to determine the correct material.

Search terms: Weapon, Fishing, Spear, Fishing Accessory

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