Battle Ornament (Middi or Niddi)
1900-1932
Scroll
Battle Ornament (Middi or Niddi)
1900-1932
Physical Qualities
Nassa shells, bark, reed, fiber, pigment, W. 5 in. (12.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number
1955.251.31
Group object label BMA 1976.76.32, BMA 1955. 251.116a, BMA 1955.251.116b, 1955.251.31 (physical label copy in 1976.76.32):
Dog teeth, boar tusks, eggshell cowrie, and nassa shells not only formed important ornaments, but were also valuable items of trade among Melanesian communities. Many such ornaments indicated the wealth and status of the wearer and could be worn in battle, ceremony, and dance. (Photo: Bukaua man of the Huon Gulf dressed for a ceremony following his initiation to adulthood.)
Photo:
R. Neuhauss, reprinted in Les Arts Indigenes en Nouvelle-Guinee, by Stephen Chauvet, 1930-author unknown label copy from December 1991
Battle Ornament
(Middi or Niddi)
Oceanic, New Britain, Gazelle Peninsula (?)
(early 20th century)
Nassa shells, bark, reed, twine
The Baltimore Museum of Art:
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
BMA 1955.251.31
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1955; Alan Wurtzburger
"The Alan Wurtzburger Collection of Oceanic Art", January 7th-March 4th 1956, Baltimore Museum of Art
Douglas F. Fraser & Paul S. Wingret, "The Wurtzburger Collection of Oceanic Art". Baltimore Museum of Art. 1956 pg 23. cat no. 31
