Context (References)
Featured in a blog post by Pacific Presences Project intern Emily Wilkes, focussing on Pacific objects made from gourd material. Working in conjunction with Dr Andrew Clarke of the McDonald Institute, University of Cambridge, the aim of this collaborative project is to carry out DNA analysis on samples collected from gourd artefacts stored in the MAA. This will help fill critical research gaps relating to the origins, international spread and domestication of the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria).
Emily Wilkes (2015) Pacific Lime Containers in the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, December 16, 2015.
Noted as 'In contrast to the previous item, this lime box (Z 11227) is made of a gourd which has an elongated shape, manipulated to form its concave bottom. However, it displays a similarly plain exterior. It is from the Solomon Islands and was given to the museum by Baron Von Hügel in 1884; an explorer who was travelling in the Pacific between 1874 and 1877. What is especially intriguing about this object is the semi-human, semi-animal figure featured on the handle of its wooden stopper. This figure can be seen crouching on all fours, wearing a necklace of red and white glass beads around its neck. It is also wearing what appears to be a top hat, arguably depicting a Pacific representation of a European.'.
https://pacificpresences.maa.cam.ac.uk/pacific-lime-containers-in-the-museum-of-archaeology-anthropology/
Event Date 2015
Author: Rachel Hand

Description (CMS Description)
Lime container formed of a long thin gourd, the bottom of which has been cut and inserted inside the upper part the other way around as to form a concave base. The lime stick is thin, with a small piece of barkcloth tied around the upper part to help sealing the bottle. The top part is carved with a very neat nguzu-nguzu type figure on a double pedestal, wearing a European hat and a short string of alternating white and red glass beads around its neck. A very thin cord of fibre tied below one of the figure's knees.
Event Date 14/10/2015
Author: maa

Context (CMS Context)
Labels & inscriptions: 'Z 11227' inscribed in black ink on the base of the object. 'O.VI.31.2.H' ['2' in superscript] inscribed in white ink on the object.
Event Date 14/10/2015
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
[From catalogue card:] 'Lime box made of a gourd with concave bottom. The handle of the spatula is a semi human-semi animal figure crouching on all fours and a curious hat like headdress and a string of tiny alternating red and white clam shell beads around the neck.
Event Date 14/10/2015
Author: maa

Context (CMS Context)
An old display label found in the archives (OA2/1/13) reads: ‘LIME GOURDS / D. A. VON HUGEL / Z 11227 / Z 11226'.
Event Date 2/11/2016
Author: Lucie Carreau