Accession No
E 1905.242
Description
Model Bullroarer - Sword shaped wooden model bullroarer with two opposing concentric diamond patterns incised either side near handle. Finial rounded and handle roughly finished.
Place
Oceania; Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Central Province; Kairuku Hiri District; Lala (Nara) area; ?Oroi (Nara)
Period
Source
Cooke Daniels, William (Major) [donor]; Seligman, Charles Gabriel (Dr) [acting donor]; Daniels Ethnographical Expedition [collector]
Department
Anth
Reference Numbers
E 1905.242; MAA: AR 1905.870
Cultural Affliation
Lala (Nara)
Material
Wood
Local Term
Biliva
Measurements
44mm x 480mm
Events
Context (CMS Context)
Collected by Cooke Daniels Ethnographical Expedition, 1903.
Event Date 1/6/1997
Author: maa
Description (CMS Description)
Model of a bullroarer. Spear-shaped.
Event Date 1/6/1997
Author: maa
Description (Physical description)
Wooden model bullroarer carved from the whole; sword shaped with two opposing concentric diamond patterns incised either side near handle. Finial rounded and handle roughly finished. Several elongated rectangular grooves on one side, possibly chisel marks, alongside several linear indentations.
Event Date 2/4/2017
Author: heather donoghue
Description (Labels & Markings)
Museum label adhered to side of object reads: [Handwritten in black ink:] 'Model Bull-roarer. Biliva (made at Nara) B.N.G. Major W. Cooke Daniels 1905.242.'
Event Date 2/4/2017
Author: heather donoghue
Context (Field collection)
Collected during the Daniels Ethnographical Expedition to British New Guinea, led by Major William Cooke Daniels and Dr. Charles Seligman, accompanied by Dr. Walter Mersh Strong and Mr A.H. Dunning, 1903-1904.
The expedition visited the Nara area between 9 and 14 May 1904, spending the majority of time in Nara village (Oroi). This model was likely collected, or possibly commissioned, along with similar examples now at the Australian Museum (E.15694), which Charles Seligman records as biliva (Australian Museum Archive S44/1905), and the Pitt Rivers Museum (1905.63.23).
Event Date 2/4/2017
Author: Heather Donoghue
Context (Other owners)
Following the expedition, Charles Seligman catalogued and donated the collections on the understanding they were a gift from Major William Cooke Daniels, the Daniels Ethnographical Expedition's primary funder.
Event Date 2/4/2017
Author: Heather Donoghue
Context (Other)
Catalogue card reads: [Handwritten in black ink:] 'E.1905.242. MELANESIA. NEW GUINEA. Biliva (made at Nara) Model of a Bull-roarer. Donor [underlined]. Major W. Cooke Daniels. R1906 ['5' crossed out in black ball point and replaced with '6']. 870.'; [later addition handwritten in black ink:] 'spear-shaped. (Made at Nara) Collected by Cooke-Daniels' Ethnographical Expedition 1903'. [Red circular sticker top right of card.]
Event Date 2/4/2017
Author: heather donoghue
FM:111900
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