weapon('te unun')
- Museum number
- Oc,LMS.10
- Description
-
Weapon 'te unun' consisting of a pointed staff of palm wood surrounded with rows of sharks' teeth, bound with coir and edged with ribs of leaves. At the base project three curved limbs each having two rows of sharks teeth of similar construction.
- Production date
- 19thC (before 1890)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 80 centimetres
-
Width: 30 centimetres
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Depth: 5.20 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Information from Pacific Art in Detail: Kiribati warriors were known for their ferocity. They also had the most fully developed armour in the Pacific. In Kiribati, wars were often fought over an insult, or over territory.
The barbs on this weapon are shark's teeth, each one drilled with two holes and bound onto the wood with fine coconut fibre.
-
No old labels
- Location
- On display (G24/dc6)
- Exhibition history
-
2017-2018 27 Jul-Nov, Wellcome Trust Gallery, British Museum, London, Object Journeys - Kiribati: between land and sea
- Acquisition date
- 1911
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Oc,LMS.10
- Additional IDs
-
CDMS number: Oc1911C27.10 (old CDMS no.)
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Miscellaneous number: Oc1890,Loan (originally loaned to BM in 1890 by LMS)