Accession No
1923.99 A
Description
Comb - [From catalogue card:] '[One of] four haircombs... A&B made of coconut wood cut into strips, flat at one end and rounded at the other. The strips are lashed to a cross strip with a criss-cross lashing of fibre, the flat ends brought more or less to a point and lashed with [illegible]. The inlaid work either of nautilus or pearl shell being cut [illegible] piece by piece with a putty made of the leaflet kernel of a nut known as the putty nut. The nut very quickly cooks and hardens, which is the reason for some pieces having to be put in separately so that the design must be kept in mind [illegible]. The plaiting is partly smoke and partly wood ash of charred wood rubbed into a paste and painted on, the inlaid work being cleaned after the work is done. This kind of comb is fairly common throughout the central Solomons & worn by both sexes.
Place
Oceania; Melanesia; Solomon Islands; Ulawa
Period
Source
Edgell, William Henry (Rev.) [collector]; Edgell (Miss) [donor]
Department
Anth
Reference Numbers
1923.99 A
Cultural Affliation
Material
Wood; Shell; Plant; Fibre; Resin
Local Term
Measurements
Events
Context (CMS Context)
Labels & inscriptions: A small label glued to the back reads: '23.99 A Ulawa' in black ink. '23.99 A.' written on the object in white ink.
Event Date 13/8/2015
Author: maa
Description (CMS Description)
[From catalogue card:] '[One of] four haircombs... A&B made of coconut wood cut into strips, flat at one end and rounded at the other. The strips are lashed to a cross strip with a criss-cross lashing of fibre, the flat ends brought more or less to a point and lashed with [illegible]. The inlaid work either of nautilus or pearl shell being cut [illegible] piece by piece with a putty made of the leaflet kernel of a nut known as the putty nut. The nut very quickly cooks and hardens, which is the reason for some pieces having to be put in separately so that the design must be kept in mind [illegible]. The plaiting is partly smoke and partly wood ash of charred wood rubbed into a paste and painted on, the inlaid work being cleaned after the work is done. This kind of comb is fairly common throughout the central Solomons & worn by both sexes.
Event Date 13/8/2015
Author: maa
FM:268572
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