Collection Online

Doubleclam shell wealth rings
(20th century)

Medium
clam shell, pigment on fibre string

Measurements
8.8 × 15.5 × 1.5 cm

Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Louise and Sam Dawson, 2008
© the artists

Gallery location
Not on display

Artwork Details

Place/s of Execution
Safia/Bibira, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea

Accession Number
2008.327

Department
Pacific Art

This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation

Physical description
Giant clam shell wealth rings created by artisans at the coast, this example which may be tied to a necklace for dancing came from the Bibira/Safia distric of Oro Province - several days walk from the coast at Wanigela. When missionaries arrived at Wanigela on Collingwood Bay in the late nineteenth century, the mountain people from Safia/Babira were still raiding and terrorizing the coastal people at Wanigela, Oro Province, PNG.