Bilum (Net Bag)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 May 2017
label: Collection Date
content: Jan 2011
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Joshua A. Bell
label: Donor Name
content: National Museum of Natural History
notes: label: Notes
content: Bilum bag, made of dyed tree bark and looped in an open figure eight pattern in a Madang style. One side (the front) has horizontal bands of pink squares alternating with purple and white checkered squares, and between these bands are horizontal stipes in beige and white. This side also has paired and knotted fringe -- long pink, purple, and white fringe, coming out from the sides and the checkered areas of the design. A price tag (made of cardboard with marker writing reading "K80-00") is tied onto the fringe at the top left. The other side (the back) is mostly beige, with thin purple stripes at the top, bottom, and center. There is no fringe on this side. A single handle, a strap that is half pink and half purple, is attached to the top edge of the bag.
label: Notes
content: Donor notes: Cost, 80 kina. "This bilum was made for sale by Rachel Gary (Gary is her husband's name, her father's name is Pasagai). She is about 44 years old belongs to the Murpat clan. Moli is the local name for the bark fiber used to make the bilum and the bilum is called tang in language. It takes Rachel 2-3 weeks to make a bilum, which she then tries to sell to visiting tourists. The village of Bilbil is renowned on the Madang coast for its pottery production and is visited by tourists by land and on cruise ships."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 22 Aug 2019
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Bilbil Village, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Bilbil (Madang)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2058627
label: USNM Number
content: E435186-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bag
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 72 cm
label: Width
content: 29 cm
label: Length - Body
content: 27.5 cm
label: Length - Handle
content: 22 cm