Wrought Iron Spit/Cross "Assein"
date: label: Accession Date
content: 19 Jun 1942
name: label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Alfred Metraux
notes: label: Notes
content: SPECIMEN SHAPED LIKE THE HEAD OF A DOWNWARD TURNED HALBERD; ENDS OF CROSS MEMBER TURNED DOWNWARDS AND FLATTENED WITH THREE SAWTEETH AT TOP. SPITS LIKE THESE ARE REGARDED AS MANIFESTATIONS OF DAMBALLAH, THE SERPENT DIETY, IN VODOU PRACTICE. THEY ARE DRIVEN INTO THE EARTH BEFORE THE "PE", THE VODOU ALTAR.
label: Notes
content: From card: "...LOANED TO RENWICK 4/9/82, RETURNED 6/1983..." [for exhibit in "Celebration: A World of Art and Ritual" at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1982-83]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Sep 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Croix-Des-Bouquets (Near Port-Au-Prince), Haiti, Caribbean
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Haitian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 163278
label: USNM Number
content: E382559-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Cross