spear

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Object Type
Museum number: Oc.955
Description: Spear, two parts, with reed shaft and hardwood head with 6 barbs carved into solid along one side.
Production ethnic group
Production date: 19thc(early) (before 1844)
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Port Jackson
Materials
Dimensions: Length: 250.50 centimetres; Width: 2.50 centimetres; Depth: 2.50 centimetres
Curator's comments: As this object came from collection of Earl Moutnorris, it is likely it was collected by Frederick Bedwell, a midshipman on Phillip Parker King's voyages 1818-1821, who collected material for Mountnorris. See Siimpson 2020. After returning to England, he returned to live at Paterson, New South Wales.; Christy collection registration slip description, probably written in the 1860s: 'Port Jackson, N.S. Wales, Australia Spear. Wood, barbed, head and shaft of different woods. Arley Castle 264 7/7' The Arley Castle reference indicates that this object was acquired from the sale of the contents of Arley Castle, Staffordshire, the property of Earl of Mountnorris, Viscount Valentia, which was held by Messrs Farebrother, Clark and Lye, 6th-21st December, 1852. In the catalogue for the sale, Lot 264 was described as 'seven New Zealand Spears'. This incorrect provenance probably stems from the auctioneers' assessment of these objects.; Handwritten in ink on shaft: Port Jackson New South Wales Paper label on shaft 264 7/7. Round label on shaft '955'.
Bibliographic references: Sculthorpe et al. 2015 / Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation (p.131, fig.8); National Museum of Australia 2015 / Encounters. Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum (p.87); Megaw 1993 / Something old, something new: further notes on the Aborigines of the Sydney district as represented by their surviving artefacts and as depicted in some early European representations (pp.33-35); Simpson 2020 / The Royal Navy in Indigenous Australia, 1795-1855. Maritime Encounters and British Museum Collections. (p.286)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2015 23 Apr-2 Aug, London, BM, G35, Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation 2015-2016 27 Nov-28 Mar, Canberra, National Museum of Australia, Encounters
Associated names
Acquisition name
Previous owner
Acquisition date: 1860s
Acquisition notes: It appears this object was acquired by Henry Christy from the Arley Castle collection sale in December 1852. After Christy's death in 1865 it came into the British Museum's collections as part of the Christy Collection bequest.
Department: Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Registration number: Oc.955
Additional IDs: CDMS number: Oc186?C1.955 (old CDMS no.)
Conservation

Free entry

Opening hours