- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Mineral specimen, a medicine.
- Geographical reference
- Person
- Maker Unknown Maker
- Field collector Edward Horace Man
- PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
- Date / Period
- Date made: Possibly before 1878
- Date collected
- ?Prior to 1878
- Acquisition information
- Donated: 1884
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1884.60.21
- Associated publications
- JAI, 1878: 461 'Koi-ôb-da this is made by mixing 'Ûpla' (v no 49) with some greasy substance such as the fat of the pig turtle iguana dugong or the oil of an almond called 'Êmej-da'. This red preparation is applied to the person either ornamentally or otherwise. It is believed to be efficacious in sickness. The nostrils and centre of the upper lip are occasionally painted with it, as the smell of the fat is agreeable to them. From the mode in which it is applied it can be readily determined whether the wearer is sick or rejoicing. Before a corpse is removed for burial it is smeared over the face and neck with this paint as a mark of respect, and in order to please the departing spirit. (In glass jar)' [Taken from 'List of Andamanese and Nicobarese Implements Ornaments etc presented to Major-General Lane Fox by EH Man esq and thus described by Mr Man 18th September 1877'[AP Leverhulme project on founding collection 1995-1998] A group photograph of specimen bottles of Andaman Islander and Australian Aboriginal pigments (1884.33.52, 1884.60.20, 1884.60.21, 1898.75.60, 1898.75.61) was published as a PRM postcard, April 2002. [JC 5 7 2002] A group photograph of specimen bottles of Andaman Islander and Australian Aboriginal pigments (1884.33.52, 1884.60.20, 1884.60.21, 1898.75.60, 1898.75.61) was reproduced in colour on page 28 of 'Beauty of the World', by Mike O'Hanlon, in Oxford Today: The University Magazine, Vol. XIV, no. 3 (Trinity Issue 2002), pp. 28-30. [JC 5 7 2002]
1884.60.21
Mineral specimen, a medicine.
On display
1884.60.21
Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
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