Plaited orchid stem fibre armlet in yellow, red and dark brown
Band for the arm, of plaited vine-strip, red, yellow and black. The provenance of this style of arm band is not firmly established, but it probably western Solomons and Bougainville. Of three similar examples in the British Museum, two (Oc1944,02.1391 and 1392) are attributed to Bougainville, probably conjecturally, and one (Oc1938.1001.23) has an uncertain Solomon Islands provenance. Ribbe (1903:264) writes of Roviana: "Broad sleeve-like armbands with beautiful patterns, yellow, red and black, were sometimes brought in from Cape Grace and sometimes made by the people themselves and worn as festival decorations." (Cape Grace, so far unidentified, could be Bougainville).
