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Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47
Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47

Unique Older Nassa Shells & Black Beads Necklace, Body Ornament and Currency, Trade Item, Worn during Festivals, Initiations, Rites of passage or used for payments, bride price etc… Highlands of Papua New Guinea. NECK47

Trade currency Choker Neck Ornament from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea , collected in the 1990's.

ITEM NECK47  

It has been reduced because one of the clasps is broken. If not worn, These necklaces look very good also in a decor, around the neck of a vase or basket.

Unique Festival Neck Necklace Ornament from Papua New Guinea's Highlands with a network of nassa shells and alternated black beads.

Also used as a currency item during feuds, coming of age, bride price etc...

Original item 

Collected on the premises in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Necklaces, headbands and armbands are knotted from handmade vegetal string and may include seeds, coix, nassa shells or others, Unique trade beads, feathers and fur, grasses and ferns, croton leaves, yellow orchid vine, everlasting daisies, links of bamboo and fiber chains etc...

Such decorative items were only worn by the “Big Men”, the initiated men and the Shamans of Papua New Guinea during special ceremonies & rites, as  pectoral ornaments. 

Artistic expression in the Highlands is conveyed largely through body art. Diverse in both media and application, the major components of Highlands body ornamentation include bird of paradise plumes, body paint, and an enormous variety of decorative objects made from shell, teeth, beetles, orchid stem, fur, bone, bark, wood, and fiber. (Moriarty recognized the importance of this art and its central position in the broader context of Highlands art. A visionary in any age, he not only developed a unique collection of body decoration from the Highlands of New Guinea, but saw to it that this collection remained intact by donating it to the AGNSW. Today it is part of what is possibly the world's most important accumulation of this art.)

All our collector and rare items come with pages and pages of research about provenance, and with history of the tribes and photos as well, depending on item and whenever possible. When shipping internationally, we group ship multiple purchases to save you money, and find the best rates available. If you have any questions or want to see research conducted on this piece and photos of tribes, let us know.