Accession No
D 1914.37
Description
Large shell trumpet or horn made from a triton shell. The mouthpiece at the side is side is built up with resin or gum.
Place
Oceania; Polynesia; French Polynesia; Society Islands; Tahiti
Period
18th century
Source
Cook, James (Captain) [field collector]; Sandwich (Earl) [collector and donor]; Trinity College [depositor]
Department
Anth
Reference Numbers
D 1914.37
Cultural Affliation
Material
Shell; Resin
Local Term
Measurements
172mm x 139mm x 329mm
Events
Description (Physical description)
Large horn (?triton shell) with side perforation, and built up mouthpiece of gum.
Event Date
Author: maa
Context (References)
Literature: See 'Artificial Curiosities' (1978), A. Kaeppler, p.177. Kaeppler designates this as a necklace from New Zealand, but according to the original UCMAA Deposit Book Accession Register it is a shell trumpet. This item is probably that described as 1914.54 by Kaeppler (p.144). Evidence: Sandwich Collection. 1st or 2nd Voyage. The necklace is probably one of those described as 1914.40-42 in the UCMAA Deposit Book. (J.Tanner, May 1998). Also see 'From Pacific Shores: Eighteenth-century Ethnographic Collections at Cambridge - The Voyages of Cook, Vancouver and the First Fleet' (J. Tanner, 1999:8).
Cook Collection: Captain James Cook undertook three world voyages around the globe from 1768 - 1779. The stated purpose of the first voyage (1768-1771) on the HMS Endeavour was to send a Royal Society team to observe the transit of the planet Venus from the vantage point of newly discovered Tahiti. However, the primary governmental motivation behind the first expedition was to establish the existence of ' Terra Australis Incognita' or the ' Great Southern Continent' , which was believed to exist in order to balance the great northern land mass. Cook set sail from Plymouth on Friday 26th August 1768 and headed to South America, round Cape Horn and westwards to carry out the experiment in Tahiti, and then went on to circumnavigate the globe in pursuit of the presumed continent. The purpose of the second voyage (1772-1775) on the HMS Resolution and the HMS Adventure was to extend the search for the ' southern continent' . They sailed from Plymouth on 27 June 1772 and headed directly south past Cape Town and then set out on an eastward course of circumnavigation, crossing the Antartic Circle several times en route in an effort to seek the imagined continent. The third voyage (1776-1780) on the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, was concerned with the search for a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They sailed from Plymouth on 13th July 1772, heading first for the Society Islands from whence they set course to search for the Northwest Passage. However, Cook was killed in Hawaii in 1779 and his command was taken up by Charles Clerke.
More than 2000 extant pieces can be traced from Cook' s voyages (Kaeppler:1978), of which UCMAA has 215 identified objects. The majority of the material at UCMAA was collected from the Pacific, but also includes objects from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, the Northeast Coast of Asia and Tierra del Fuego in South America. Furthermore, all the three voyages are represented by objects in UCMAA' s collection.
(J. Tanner, 1999).
Event Date 1/6/1995
Author: maa
Description (Physical description)
Large bulbous body which narrows in a cone shape at a 45 degree angle from horizontal. Pink colouration at end of cone, with tip broken off. Main body of shell has cream background with brown markings. The shell is orange coloured internally, with brown lines along one lip. A circle of black resin is built up around mouthpiece.
Event Date 6/1998
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu
Context (References)
Literature: See 'Artificial Curiosities' (1978), A. Kaeppler, p.144.
Event Date 16/7/2009
Author: Wonu Veys
Loan (Exhibition)
Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge, 02/10/2011 to 28/09/2018, Exhibition: Astronomy & Empire
Event Date 2/10/2011
Author: Rachel Hand
Loan (Exhibition)
Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge, 02/10/2011 to 28/09/2018, Exhibition: Astronomy & Empire
Event Date 2/10/2011
Author: Rachel Hand
Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2017.3895 | Remedial
Event Date 11/7/2017
Author: Kirstie Williams
Context (Amendments / updates)
This tropical shell is Charonia tritonis from the Society Islands. MAA's other shell trumpet from New Zealand is Charonia capas lampax (or C. lampax rubicunda depending on taxonomy).
From notes by archaeologist Kat Zsabo. Principal Research Fellow at Monash University Clayton, 9/9/2017
Event Date 23/4/2019
Author: rachel hand
Loan (Exhibition)
Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge, 30/4/2019 to 30/7/2019, Exhibition: Astronomy & Empire
Event Date 30/4/2019
Author: rachel hand
Loan (Exhibition)
Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge, 07/05/2019 to 30/8/2019, Exhibition: Astronomy & Empire
Original display object label reads, 'Shell trumpet / This shell trumpet was collected on Tahiti during Cook's first voyage, most likely by gift or trade. In encounters between Cook's men and Pacific Islanders the exchange of goods was a crucial, if sometime fraught, form of social interaction. After the return of Cook's quadrant, "a hog and a dog, some cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit" were formally gifted to the sailors by "The king, whose name was Tarrao". In return Cook's men offered "an adze, a shirt, and some beads, which his majesty received with apparent satisfaction."
Whilst we have numerous reports by Cook and his men, objects like this shell trumpet are amongst the only surviving evidence from the islanders' side of these encounters. It is a reminder that this exhibition relies upon a very lopsided set of source materials: most of the objects and quotes displayed here were produced and/or used by Europeans.'
Event Date 7/5/2019
Author: rachel hand
FM:100478
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