Description (Physical description)
Perforated shell, carved in the shape of a fish.
Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Related Documents)
Original catalogue card has sketch
Event Date
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Context (Related Documents)
Rectangular handwritten label previously attached to the object with string reads: 'I found this rude representation of a fish, along with shell chisels, near the sea on Maxwell Estate, Barbados. 22.9.88. H.W.F.'
Event Date
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Description (Labels & Markings)
Marked in black ink: 'Barbados'.
Event Date
Author: Zahni Blumenthal

Context (Field collection)
Found with the 'shell adzes' (Z 2667 - Z 2668), 'near the sea on Maxwell Estate, Barbados. 22.9.88. H.W.F.', according to the label.
Event Date 22/9/1888
Author: maa

Context (Analysis)
Examined by Ronald Taylor, Director of the Barbados Museum, on 2 June 1977. He notes: 'Made from part of the crown of the Srumbus gigas. This is a very rare piece. I think H.W.F. is mistaken in thinking it represents a fish. It is imitating the three pointed stone of the other islands and is a ZEMI.' See archive for notes (FA4/2/1).
Event Date 2/6/1977
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Context (Display)
Exhibited: Andrews Gallery, "The Americas 1492", 15 June 1992 to 24 September 1994.
Event Date 15/6/1992
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Context (References)
Harris, M.H. (2019). ‘The Pre-Colonial Pottery of Barbados’. In de Waal, M.S. et al (eds.), Pre-Colonial and Post-Contact Archaeology in Barbados. Leiden: Sidestone Press. p. 87
Event Date 2019
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Description (Physical description)
Carved, fish-shaped object made from the apical portion of a queen conch shell (Strombus gigas). Hollow, cone-like form with one side elongated and ending in a carved trefoil terminal; surface features bilateral carved details resembling fins and possibly gills. Possibly a ‘zemís’ (or ‘cemís’).
Event Date 4/6/2024
Author: Zahni Blumenthal