belt
- Museum number
- Oc1990,09.377
- Description
-
Belt, comprising pieces of pearlshell suspended from a band of plaited fibre.
- Production date
- 20thC
- Dimensions
-
Length: 98 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Such belts (in the Wahgi language ‘konzap kine’ – literally, ‘apron pearlshell’) are worn around the waist on top of the apron a man wears when decorated for dancing when the shells produce a distinctive jingle; purchased from the man Auwi, of the Komblo sub-group Anzkanem Palakanem; belt re-made at my request. Men may comment on how awkward such shell belts are to wear when sitting on the ground side by side with a girl when courting. The shells can get stuck under a girl’s thigh, making it uncomfortable for her, but courting partners are traditionally emabarrassed to utter the words for nether garments like men’s dancing aprons (‘konzap’) or women’s skirts (‘tapel’), making it tricky to relieve the discomfort. For an account of the making of the collection of which this is part, see ‘Paradise: portraying the New Guinea Highlands’ by Michael O’Hanlon (British Museum Press, 1993), especially Plate 6 where the man on the left hand side of the dancing formation wears such a ‘konzap kine’ belt.
Field collection no:688.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1990
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Oc1990,09.377
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 688 (field collection number)