Shell Pendant
date: label: Accession Date
content: 22 May 2013
label: Collection Date
content: 1972
name: label: Collector
content: Richard Feinberg
label: Donor Name
content: Richard Feinberg
notes: label: Notes
content: Large round flat shell, iridescent on one side, blackened on the back. Braided fiber rope attached with string to three tiny holes drilled in the shell.
label: Notes
content: Tipa - pearlshell pendant worn by chiefs at sacred ceremonies. This one is an heirloom of the senior chief Pu Koroatu, who in giving it to Rick Fienberg, gave the instructions that it be held in collection of an American museum. Feinberg remarked "when I was on my way to Tokelau in 2012, a Tokelau man said to me 'when you go back home can you find some tipa and send them to me?' He wanted to make them into fish hooks. At Tokelau, Feinberg saw very few mother of pearl shell while there. He assumes that today these are very rare. During a pi kava ceremony on Anuta when chiefs make presentations to the gods, they wore these shells. The back appears to be covered with soot that is the result of storage and many years of use. The rope used to hang the tipa appears to be European rope with some coconut sennit used to attach the rope through the shell's perforation. On the inside of the shell there are traces of tumeric which was used in rituals and worn." (Per curator Joshua Bell; notes from speaking to Feinberg, Aug 16, 2012.)
label: Record Last Modified
content: 2 Dec 2014
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Anuta Island, Solomon Islands, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Anutan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2059846
label: USNM Number
content: E433249-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Pendant
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 30.5 cm
label: Width
content: 15.2 cm
label: Depth
content: 2.5 cm