Context (Amendments / updates)
Later pencil annotation on the original catalogue card reads, 'Case 8'. Possibly an old display location in the museum. Date unknown.
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Context (Related Documents)
Original catalogue card in Haddon's handwriting reads, 'KOLAP / Stone top', and 'Painted Design: Nageg, who is holding in her hand a strip of pandanus leaf for mat-making, in front of her is the mat she was making when Geigi disappeared and beyond it is probably the shell scraper which is emptyed [sic] in making leaves supple; below are a basket and two coconut water vessels.'
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Context (Amendments / updates)
Black and white documentation photo attached on the second catalogue card (transcribed on 3 September 1986) shows a basket as part of the collection. The basket is currently not present.
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Description (Labels & Markings)
A circular red sticker adhered to the bottom of the disc. Purpose, author, and date unknown.
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Description (Labels & Markings)
Haddon's number 'OH 788' written in black ink on the bottom of the disc.
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Description (Labels & Markings)
Old paper label on the top of the disc reads '323'.
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Context (Field collection)
Collected by Dr Alfred Cort Haddon in 1898.
Event Date 1898
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Context (References)
Examination of all Haddon material in British and Australian museums by Dr Moore in 1984. The Torres Strait Collections of A.C. Haddon (British Museum Publications).

Event Date 1984
Author: maa

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Description (Physical description)
Convex disk of ground volcanic ash. Design painted on top in blue and red. Palm-wood spindle through hole bored in centre.
Event Date 3/9/1986
Author: maa

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Context (Display)
'Torres Strait Islanders: An Exhibition Marking the Centenary of the 1898 Cambridge Anthropological Exhibition' at UCMAA, July 1998 to December 2000, with the following two labels, 'Basket and stone tops kolap epei; kolap. Basket of coconut leaf used to store tops. One top with totem design of a shark, the other shows a man wearing a crocodile mask. Mer. c.A.C. Haddon 1898. Z 9624, Z 8083, Z 9625 A.' As well as, 'Top kolap. Stone with stick, kolap pes, for spinning. The picture illustrates part of the story of Geigi and Nageg. Here, Nageg is busy making mats in the garden. Beside here are coconut water carriers, a scraper and a basket, behind her is a shell vessel for cooking and the stones it rests on. Mer. c. Haddon 1898. Z 9625.'
Event Date 7/1998
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Display)
Exhibited in 'Past Time: Torres Strait Islander Material from the Haddon Collection, 1888-1905' at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, March 2001-May 2002.
Event Date 3/2001
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Loan (Exhibition)
National Museum of Australia, 1/3/2001 to 1/9/2002, Past Time: Torres Strait Islander Material from the Haddon Collection, 1888-1905: A National Museum of Australia Exhibition from the University of Cambridge.
Event Date 1/3/2001
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Cairns Regional Gallery, June to September 2002.
Event Date 6/2002
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Context (Display)
On display in Case 19 (Reckitt's Blue) in Colour: Art, Science & Power, LKS Gallery, MAA July 2022 - 23 April 2023.
Displayed with the following label: Spinning top, Kolop
Australia, Torres Strait, Mer, late 19th century Volcanic stone top with a scene from the story of Geigi and Nageg painted in red and ultramarine blue. Nageg is holding a strip of pandanus leaf and is busy making mats in the garden. Beside the fringed mat is a scraper, coconut water carriers and a basket. Top spinning was competitive and accompanied by song. Individual tops were recorded spinning for over 20 minutes. Collected by Alfred Haddon, 1898. MAA Z 9625. (Anita Herle)
Event Date 2022
Author: rachel hand

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Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2022.5339 | Assessment Only
Event Date 17/5/2022
Author: Hana Bristow

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Context (Display)
On display in COLOUR: Art, Science & Power (26 August 2022 - 23 April 2023 in the display case on Reckitt's Blue.
Label:

Spinning top, Kolop
Australia, Torres Strait, Mer, late 19th century
Volcanic stone top with a scene from the story of Geigi and Nageg painted in red and ultramarine blue. Nageg is holding a strip of pandanus leaf and is busy making mats in the garden. Beside the fringed mat is a scraper, coconut water carriers and a basket. Top spinning was competitive and accompanied by song. Individual tops were recorded spinning for over 20 minutes.
Collected by Alfred Haddon, 1898. MAA Z 9625

Event Date 10/10/2023
Author: Anita Herle

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Context (Analysis)
The blue pigment was identified as French ultramarine through polarised light microscopy, with the assistance of Adèle Wright / Hamilton Kerr Institute. Given the date and place of origin the source of the powdery bright blue is almost certainly Reckitt's blue.
Event Date 9/10/2023
Author: Anita Herle

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Context (Display)
Exhibited [without the stick] as part of Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous Futures for Colonial Collections, 6 Dec 2024- 21 Dec 2025, Case 5, label notes 'No. 2. Kolap (spinning top), Mer
Collected in 1898, MAA Z 9625

In the story of Nageg and her son Geigi, Nageg teaches Geigi to fish. Geigi then taunts an old man, who kills and eats him. Nageg brings him back to life and they transform together into two fish; Geigi becomes the trevally and Nageg, the triggerfish. This kolap made of ground volcanic ash depicts Nageg with her belongings.'

Event Date 16/12/2024
Author: Rachel Hand

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Exhibition (Li Ka Shing Gallery)
EXH.2024.13 | Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous Futures for Colonial Collections
Event Date 3/12/2024
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

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Exhibition (Li Ka Shing Gallery)
EXH.2024.13 | Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous Futures for Colonial Collections
Event Date 3/12/2024
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu