Hair comb made of strips of wild sugar cane & bound with cotton.

Collection type: Object
Description: Hair comb made of strips of wild sugar cane & bound with cotton.
Geographical reference: Peru
Latin America and the Caribbean > South America > Peru
Cultural groups: Wampis
Person: Field collector Ronald Hawkesby Thomas; PRM source Ronald Hawkesby Thomas
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1923
Date collected: By 1923
Acquisition information: Donated: 1923
Materials and processes: Material Sugar Plant, Material Cotton Seed Fibre Yarn Plant, Process Bound
Dimensions: Length: max 70 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1923.88.153
Research and responses: Related Documents File - Letter from Ronald Hawksby Thomas to Henry Balfour, dated 6 November, 1922, giving the route of his journey through 'the Alio [?sic], Maranon, Santiago and Morona rivers and that area'. List of 'Curios to Oxford' (2 pages), and notes on 'The Indian Tribes of the Northern Oriental Region of Peru' [signed R. H. Thomas, 10.11.22] and list of 'Huambisa or Aguaruna Vocabulary (9 pages). [GI 20/11/2001].
There is a total of 17 combs in this collection (included the exchanged one) although, according to the list in the RDF, 23 were sent to the Museum. Three of these were presumably given to Thomas' assistant, Mayhew, as requested in the attached letter It is unclear what happened to the other three but they were possibly sent to Thomas' home as he requests the Museum to do this with any unwanted objects. See RDF. [CF 30/3/2001]

Search