Snail shells teunga
Place: Tonga
Category: Jewellery & adornment
Tonga, d. 0.7 cm, Inv. Oz 186
Humphrey No. 70: ‘Eleven small yellow button Snails (a new Species of Shell) ingeniously worked into a plaited twine, and so placed as to resemble a branch. From the Friendly Isles, the Natives of which wear head-Dresses formed of a great number of such sprigs tied to a fillet.’
Ten white snail shells are woven into a 3.5 cm long plaited band made of plant fibres. Inken Köhler, Ulrike Rehr, Gundolf Krüger