The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that the MAAS website contains a range of Indigenous Cultural Material. This includes artworks, artifacts, images and recordings of people who may have passed away, and other objects which may be culturally sensitive.
Pearl shell ornament from Western Australia
Made in Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia, 1900-1920.Summary
Object No.
2012/131/1Object Statement
Pearl shell ornament (riji or jakoli), engraved, pearl shell / human hair / feathers / plant string / ochre, maker unknown, Kimberley region, Western Australia, 1900-1924Physical Description
A large mother of pearl shell featuring an engraved interlocking key design highlighted in red natural earth pigment (ochre) suspended from a double strand of twisted human hair. The hair string has a circumference of 860mm and is joined with two tassels made from feathers that are bound with twisted plant string and adorn the shell at the small hand-bored hole where the cord is attached. The cord and feathers have also been rubbed with red ochre. The abductor scar is visible in the centre of the ornament.Short URL
https://ma.as/459050Dimensions
Width
153 mmDepth
24 mmProduction
Made
Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia 1900-1920Notes
Featuring an interlocking key design, this engraved pearl shell known as riji or jakoli was made in the early 1900s in the Kimberley region of Western Australia by an unknown indigenous maker. Prior to 1920, the most common patterns applied to pearl shell included abstract designs such as zigzags, meanders and mazes with the interlocking key design the most common. From the mid-1920s European themes and more realistic imagery started to appear more frequently on pearl shells.Early pearl shell ornaments pre-dating the 1900s have the abductor scar removed by careful rubbing. The abductor scar is visible on this riji / jakoli. The markings on the shell represent the level of initiation attained. Women and children also wore pearl shells in certain circumstances.
Davies, Susan. Collected: 150 years of Aboriginal art and artifacts at the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, 2002, pp. 54-55, 68-70
History
Notes
This riji or jakoli was offered at a Sotheby's auction of important Aboriginal and Oceanic art held in Sydney 15 October 2012, and was subsequently purchased by the Museum. A private collector, Lyle Gamertsfelder originally acquired the shell ornament in Alice Springs in the 1950s. It was customary in the 1950s-1960s for indigenous Australians to journey to the Northern Territory from Western Australia to attend ceremonial dances known as corroborees. According to tradition, the aborigines would leave a gift before returning to their native lands. The collector obtained the ornament at this time.Source
Credit Line
Purchased 2012Acquisition Date
6 November 2012Cite this Object
Harvard
Pearl shell ornament from Western Australia 2019, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 6 April 2020, <https://ma.as/459050>Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/459050 |title=Pearl shell ornament from Western Australia |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=6 April 2020 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}
Copyright for the above image is held by MAAS and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please contact MAAS Rights and Permissions for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives licence
Submit an image license enquiry.