Neck Ornament Of 11 Whales Teeth
date: label: Accession Date
content: 12 Jul 1876
name: label: Donor Name
content: Us Consul Isaac M. Brower
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "OLD LABEL: "ELEVEN TEETH OF SPERM WHALE, PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS, BOUND TOGETHER AT ROOTS WITH STRINGS OF VEGETABLE FIBER, WRAPPED WITH RED COTTON CLOTH; TIED AROUND NECK BY MEANS OF CORDS OF TWISTED AND PLAITED VEGETABLE FIBER." LONGEST TOOTH, 6"; GREATEST DIAMETER, 1 5/8", LENGTH 15". 23918 LOANED TO RENWICK 2/4/82. RETURNED 6/1983. WHALE-TEETH NECK ORNAMENT, BEFORE 1877. LEVUKA ISLAND, FIJI, WEST POLYNESIA SPERM-WHALE TEETH, VEGETABLE FIBER, RED COTTON CLOTH 4 1/2 X 12 3/4 X 10(11.5 X 32.4 X 25.4) NMNH 23918. IN FIJI, WHALE TEETH ARE A TOKEN PRESENTED TO MARK IMPORTANT TRANSACTIONS, SUCH AS MARRIAGE, PERFORMANCE OF A SERVICE BY AN EXPERT, AND FORMATIONS OF ALLIANCE. THEY MAY ALSO BE FORMALLY GIVEN PRIOR TO A STATEMENT OF REQUEST. EXCHANGE OF WHALE TEETH HONOR BOTH DONOR AND RECIPIENT, AND IF A REQUEST IS MADE AT THE TIME OF THE EXCHANGE, IT HAS TO BE REGARDED AS A MATTER OF GREAT SOCIAL WEIGHT. AS SYMBOLS OF A CHIEF'S POWER AND CORRESPONDING RESPONSIBILITY, WHALE TEETH ARE ESPECIALLY PROMINENT IN POLITICAL CEREMONIES. AS WITH BARK CLOTH, THE RELATIVE QUANTITY OF WHALE TEETH IS AN INDICATION OF POWER."
label: Notes
content: Sisi necklaces were made of small sperm whale's teeth, here reused from tabua (ceremonial whale's teeth). They were an attribute of rank, worn by chiefly men throughout Fiji. The presence of red cotton cloth makes this object exceptional, for it illustrates an early tradition.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 29 Aug 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Fiji, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Fijian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 005306
label: USNM Number
content: E23918-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Necklace
physicalDescription: label: Length - Tooth,
content: 15 cm
label: Maximum Diameter - Object
content: 4.127 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 38 cm