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1940.12.313

Armlet of circular white Conus shell decorated with strings of banana seeds, red beads and discs of red shell. [MJD 17/12/2009]

On display

1940.12.313

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Collection type
Object
Description
Armlet of circular white Conus shell decorated with strings of banana seeds, red beads and discs of red shell. [MJD 17/12/2009]
Long description
Armlet of circular white Conus shell decorated with strings of banana seeds, red beads and discs of red shell. The outer curve of the shell is perforated with five holes, through which the decoration is strung. [MJD 17/12/2009]
Geographical reference
Papua New Guinea
Oceania > Melanesia > Papua New Guinea
Milne Bay Province Kiriwina Goodenough District Trobriand Islands
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1940
Date collected
By 1940
Acquisition information
Donated: 1940
Materials and processes
Material Conus Shell, Material Banana Seed Plant, Material Oyster Shell, Material Bead, Material String Plant, Process Carved, Process Perforated, Process Strung
Dimensions
Width: max 132 mm, Diameter: max 83 mm internal, Height: max 58 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1940.12.313
Research and responses

Spondylus are bivalves known as thorny oysters. [Encyclopædia Britannica Online] [CF 10/4/2000]

Associated publications
Michael O'Hanlon refers to 1890.5.1 and 1940.12.313 as examples of the shell valuables circulated in the 'kula ring' in his article 'Take a case: Ornamental objects used as currency' published on page 5 of The Friends of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford Magazine, issue 85 (Spring 2016). Talking about case L75A on the Lower Gallery, where these were both displayed until April 2016, O'Hanlon notes: 'The case is a favourite of mine, too, because it currently holds examples of the most celebrated shell ornaments in anthropology: the necklaces and arm shells which circulated in the 'kula ring'. First described by Bronislaw Malinowski in his 1922 classic Argonauts of the Western Pacific which set the standard for anthropological fieldwork, the kula is an elaborate system of ceremonial exchange linking island communities off the northeast coast of New Guinea. Malinowski described the perilous journeys people made by canoe to exchange these shell ornaments, necklaces circulating clockwise, arm shells anti-clockwise around the communities which make up the 'ring'. Neither arm shells nor necklaces are possessed permanently, or really worn on the body, but men compete for their temporary possession which brings great prestige. Malinowski brilliantly showed how the kula acted as a framework, uniting participants over a wide area, serving as a substitute for war and as an umbrella under which much trading of useful products also went on.' The article includes a colour photography of both objects, captioned: 'Kula armshell 1940.12.313 and necklace 1890.5.1, Trobriand Islands, PNG Armshells and necklaces were the principal valuables which circulated in the kula ring'. [ZM 2/9/2016]

Search terms: Ornament, Bead, Trade, Currency, Status, Arm Ornament, Status Object

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