Ornamental comb ·  Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée - Archipel Bismarck - Îles de l´Amirauté · ID: 3034521

Description

twelve fan-like arranged bamboo skewers, on one end tied together with rattan, additionally fixed with parinarium nut paste which forms the handle at the same time, decorated with incised anthropomorphic face and crocodile head, old collection number “G92”, well preserved traditional pigments: red (seeds of the “mbuhul” plant), black (ash/charcoal) and white (chalk), slightly dam.;
such combs were primarily worn by men on festive occasions. They used to stuck them into their hair above the forehead. But they could as well be part of the bridal accoutrements, respectively the bridal ornament.

Littérature comparée

Ohnemus, Sylvia, Zur Kultur der Admiralitäts-Insulaner in Melanesien, Basel 1996, p. 28 ff.