Find Lots

• Auction House:
  Theodore Bruce
• Sale Name:
  Timed Online Auction | The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Asian Art | Day I
• Sale Date:
  08 Aug 2022 ~ 6pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  9183
• Lot Description:
  Three Fine Antique Kina Shell Necklaces, Two in Their Original Bark Wallets, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea
  L 38 - 42 cm
• Provenance:
  The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art
• Notes:
  These I field collected in 1985-86, I spent several months in the remote Enga Province & bordering Southern Highlands Province, at that time most people in village were still in traditional dress and these Kina Shells were very important wealth objects still in tradition use. When an old man brought one to sell to me, he might take an hour to unwrap it through several layers of protection before it got to the Bark Wallet and then the actual Kina Shell. If I bought it then it would take him another hour to rewrap it before he gave it to me after payment, sometimes half a day would be spent looking at one Kina Shell & then having some food prepared by the family in great kindness and courtesy. Now days some people think that Kina Shells are common but they are often brand-new one's mass produced in Bali but the really old & well used Kina Shell from New Guinea are extremely rare. These examples have decades of use and history & have been traded through family and clans dozens of times perhaps over many years.
• Estimate:
  A$300 - 500
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

  Can't see the realised price? Upgrade your subscription now!

• Category:
  Tribal

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.