Pearlshells Used for Exchange
1960s. Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea
Collected & donated by Marilyn Strathern, MAA 1967.70-1
Mounted on resin boards painted with ochre, these prized shells have strong utilitarian handles of old meshing or calico for carrying to exchange partners.
The pearlshell itself is the valuable part of these objects, and is carefully worked to enhance its colour. The shells were counted in pairs. Pairs and a ‘hand’ of 8 shells were the units for ceremonial exchange. The bamboo slats at the top of the shell mimic the tallies the donors wore which ranked their successful exchanges.
Traded by men, pearlshells were only exchanged during the period between the 1950s-70s. The focus of this concern with wealth was reproduction. Shells meant more wives for the clan body, and children with the potential for new life. Look again at the shell and you see a foetus curled up inside.
