a superb Caroline Islands shell headband

TRUK

Details

a superb Caroline Islands shell headband
Truk
Composed of a thick strand of coconut fibre bound with twisted fibres strung with fifty-nine paired Spondylus-shell discs divided by black coconut-shell beads, three rows of just the latter each end
46cm. long

Provenance

Dr. Hahl, Linden Museum, Stuttgart, before 1912

Literature

Biebuyck, D., and Van den Abbeele, N., The Power of Headdresses, p.242, Pl.195

Lot Essay

Biebuyck (p.242) observes that the red shell beads were widely used in Truk in the Caroline Islands, but were mostly acquired through trade from the Mortlock Islands as ready-made beads or as finished ornaments

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