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Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4
Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4

Tribal Mengar Pectoral Necklace or Ornament, also Kina Currency, Large Mother of Pearl Drop Pendant (6” long) with Shells Decorations & Seed Beads Band, Ethnic Shell Art from Kimbaku Village, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea KD4

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Rare currency

This Authentic kina drop was collected and then adorned with varied shells mounted in river mud, then attached to a necklace of seed beads, by a native of the KimbaKu village.

(Located between Madang Province and the Western Highlands)

 Kina Drop necklace 6" long 

ITEM: KINA KD4 

(Seen on all the photos that are not of tribal people wearing them)

When this kina drop was collected from a native of the highlands of Papua New Guinea, it had a bunch of shell decorations attached to the kina drop, inside, which were gathered in a compound of river mud and sap, as you see them now, again, on the necklace. This river mud ended up drying out and turning to dust and the shells got lose, so we re-glued them the way they were originally, but with silicone glue, sorry, since we did not have river mud at hand, but, if you just want the drop, the shells can be pealed off with the glue that attach them to the mother of pearl piece easily enough.

You are buying the large drop pectoral ornament seen on the pictures

Authentic ornament that was once part of a elaborate costume 

(as seen on some of the photos)

 

Kinas, mother of pearl necklaces, are rare treasures from Papua and a sign of wealth and prosperity and were worn either alone or in multiples for special celebrations when warriors would wear a kina shell pectoral necklace as the focal point of their dress. These pectoral ornaments are made of mother of pearl drop pieces (the gold-lipped pearl shell: Pinctada maximums, cut into shapes and called kina). Some Kina Shells are hanging from a simple cord with pulled up seed capsules, or just a simple carrying cord.

This piece was used and we collected it on the premises in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Kina shells are used for bride price, blood feud paybacks, wealth displays and exchange festivals as well as for admission to men’s clubs and secret societies (Papua New Guinea's paper money is named after the Kina shell).

Shells pieces such as this are still used in traditional ceremonial payments as well as pectoral ornements for special ceremonies. When the Leahy brothers came into the Highlands of Papua New Guinea searching for gold, they found people who valued the gold-lipped pearl shell as much as the miners valued gold. Shells are valuable all over New Guinea, but especially so in the Highlands where the traditional trading contacts between tribes slowly passed shells from ocean to mountain valleys.

The tribes or Irian Jaya, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have lived in isolation for centuries due to the remoteness of their land and its difficult access. Their dress code has remained primitive for centuries. Traditionally, the men wear no other clothing apart from a penis sheath made of a cultivated gourd and known locally as a “horim” and some simple ornamentation such as string hair nets, bird of paradise feathers and necklaces with boar tusks or cowrie shells or other.

 

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, tell us.