comb (hair ornaments)

Palm wood splint comb ornament of separate sticks bound and patterned with red and yellow vine-strip, curved to the head. The red vine-strip is coconut-frond cuticle stained with Indian Mulberry (Morinda sp.), and the yellow is orchid stem.

Comb ornament of separate sticks bound and patterned with red and yellow vine-strip, large type, curved to the head. Combs of this general type are characteristic of Malaita, the larger curved ones especially of north Malaita. The red vine-strip is coconut-frond cuticle stained with Indian Mulberry (Morinda), the yellow is orchid stem. See Burt, Akin and Kaw’ioloa, 2009, which describes the manufacture for the smaller combs in Kwaio researched by David Akin.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
36.158
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 250 mm x 114 mm x 26 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
palm wood; plant fibre; coconut fibre; orchid stem; Morinda dye
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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Collection Information

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