1941.2.74.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Complete suit of coconut fibre armour, consisting of coconut-fibre cap [.1], a cuirass with a high back [.2], a jerkin [.3] and leggings [.4]. [El.B 23/3/2007]

Geographical reference

Kiribati

Oceania > Micronesia > Kiribati

Gilbert Islands

Person

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Irene Marguerite Beasley

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1929

Date collected

By 1929

Acquisition information

Donated: 1941

Materials and processes

Material Coconut Fibre Plant, Process Woven

Dimensions

Diameter: max 247 mm, Length: max 1050 mm, Length: max 700 mm, Length: max 470 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1941.2.74.1 Accession number: 1941.2.74.2 Accession number: 1941.2.74.3 Accession number: 1941.2.74.4 Other numbers: 2419 & 2575

Research and responses

The helmet, 1941.2.74 .1 has wrongly been affiliated with the rest of the armour. According to Beasley's original documentation, the cuirass, arms and shoulder armour and dungarees (1941.2.74.2-4) were all exchanged with the Horniman Museum and added to Beasley's registers on 30/07/1929 and given the collection number 2419. Beasley exchanged them for three S. Indian boomerangs (which he had in his collection). The coconut fibre helmet however (1941.2.74.1) entered Beasley's register on 17/05/1930 and was given the Beasley inventory number 2575. This is under the heading ‘in exchange with the Rijksmuseum, Leiden, Holland’ and not the Horniman as the other three pieces of armour. So Beasley obviously wanted a complete set or armour – but it appears that the helmet does not belong with the other three pieces on display. [FB 24/10/2016]

The following notes are drawn from research compiled by Andy Mills as part of the DCF Cutting Edge project in 2006-2007. The most highly developed armour in the Oceanic region came from the small Micronesian archipelago of Kiribati (pron. Kiribass). Kiribati is comprised of low-lying coral atolls, and so very few raw materials are available. Consequently, this armour is made from woven coconut fibre and fish skin.

The full suit of coconut-fibre armour reflects a form of armour very close to Old World clothing, and it has been suggested by some scholars that early contact with Europeans promoted the invention of this full armour suit in Kiribati. All we can say for certain is that the earliest records speak of this armour alongside the other forms. These suits often bore woven designs on the chest – either in a darker shade of coconut fibre, dyed by immersion in the mangrove swamp of the lagoon, or in female human hair. These designs occasionally represented animals such as dolphin in a stylised form.

Such suits often have a large square back-board rising from the shoulders behind the head, which would protect the warrior from the numerous stones thrown by the women of his own side at his opponents.

The thing that’s clear from photographic evidence and the descriptions available is just how hard it must have been to fight in all of these layers of textile and leather, with massive spears as long as 4-5m. The descriptions of duels include each warrior having an assistant with him, to help keep him upright and point him in the right direction. [SM 07/05/2008]

Associated publications

This object features in the Museum's audio guide produced during the DCF-funded 'Cutting Edge’ project, 2007-2009. [HH 20/06/2010]

Search terms: Armour Weapon, Clothing, Clothing Headgear, Armour, Hat, Helmet