Shell-disk pendant incised with a bird design.
Shell-disk pendant incised with a bird design. Shell-disk pendants of clamshell, with the basic design of a pair of frigate-birds flying towards each side, often with another diving between them, are characteristic of Malaita. Small ones were worn by men and women, often several on a string, around the neck, and large ones were sometimes worn by men at the side of the head. The style of design varies considerably and can sometimes be identified with a particular area, but since the disks were widely traded and probably imitated, this is not always a guide to provenance. This particular shell-disk resembles one which originated in Kwaio many generations ago and was given to someone in Kwara’ae (see Burt, Akin and Kaw’ioloa, 2009, 99). Both have a similar rendering of the two frigate-birds with fern-crown between and a similar border.
