Breast Ornament
1900-1932
Scroll
Breast Ornament
1900-1932
Physical Qualities
Eggshell cowrie shell, nassa shell, fiber, fiber from Karkar, H. 6 in. (15.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number
1955.251.116b
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
Ornament
Oceanic, Papua New Guinea, Huon Gulf
(early 20th century)
Eggshell cowrie, nassa shells, fibers
The Baltimore Museum of Art:
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
BMA 1955.251.116b
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1955; Alan Wurtzburger
Douglas F. Fraser & Paul S. Wingret, "The Wurtzburger Collection of Oceanic Art" , BMA 1956 pg 33. cat no 116.
Neich, Roger, and Pandora Fulimalo Pereira. Pacific jewelry and adornment. University of Hawaii Press, 2004.
