waseisei

Necklace of sperm whale ivory points sawn and polished

Necklace (wasekaseka) with 29 very slender and tapering whale teeth segments with slender pointed butts. The drilling of the holes does not look straight metal, broken into several segments with plaited coir cordage going through the holes and further cordage whipped around the back. The cordage does not show on the front of the teeth. Steven Hooper observed that it was one of the finest, most slenderly tapering examples he has seen. Longest tooth=10.7cm.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
3393
PLACE
COLLECTION
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
Sperm whale ivory; coconut fibre cordage
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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