Pearlshell necklace
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 Feb 2017
label: Collection Date
content: 2013
name: label: Collector
content: Jean T. Chapman-Mason
label: Donor Name
content: Jean T. Chapman-Mason
notes: label: Notes
content: Parau/pearlshell is cut & polished; the white and green rito fibers woven onto the shell. The green fibers have been dyed in crushed ngara'u (charcoal & ash). Donor describes this as "greenish and white rito woven onto parau /pearlshell of the black lip oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) from Tongareva (Penrhyn)." "This type of necklace is not commonly worn by Maori people except on cultural occasions; the reason for this could be it's too large and impractical with modern clothes, shyness (not wanting to stand out), or the reminder of a pre-Christian past that some present day christianised Cook Islanders find abhorrent. Rei were worn by nobles & warriors only. Large necklaces like these are today more frequently worn by foreigners living in the Cook Islands. "
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Aug 2016
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Cook Islands Maori
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2069807
label: USNM Number
content: E433830-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Necklace
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 17 cm
label: Width
content: 12 cm