Moka Kina Shell Foi tribe Red Pigment Guinea Ceremonial Trade Bride Price Rare 4

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Moka Kina Shell Foi tribe Red Pigment Guinea Ceremonial Trade Bride Price Rare 4:
$349.99

Beautiful Rare AuthenticOld Kina Necklace, Foi Tribe. One of the largest we ever found.

Highly Collectable,very rare, very large and very old: itemKINA4. This object of value in trade or exchanges has passed from hand to hand, as a valuable, many times over past decades, as per the indentations around the rim which were made each time it was traded. There are many. It is still powdered with a ochre residue used in decoration for important pieces and during sing sings. The huge and prized shell is very old and the handmade strap has been replaced over the years by newer ones, during its journey, as the old ones decentigrated in the humidity and heat.

Very large and importantunique older collectable Pectoral Adornment, as seen in museums: Huge mother ofpearl very scarce tribal shell ornament carved in a ½ moon shape from agigantic shell called the Kina -Gold lip shell (Pinctada maximums)-, collected in the field ina remote region of PNG, Papua New Guinea

(Papou Pygmy Tribe BodyArt, and also valuable currency).

Read below for additionalinformation on this piece.

Very valuable trade currencyitem used as money to this day.

Huge: around 8\" x 8\" for size ofcrescent alone, hand woven band with decorations of CUSCUS FUR.

Ruddy colored (with natural pigments) KinaShell Ceremonial Object from the Foi tribe, very rare and very old and passedon through trade for generations, band is newer as new bands are attachedwhenever the former one deteriorates as the shell which is very valuable as apower and wealth item is always kept and used for currency and as a sign ofpower status between many tribes.

Collected in the field in the highlands ofPapua New Guinea. Shell has uneven edges in places as expected from a shell,

Mount-Hagen area. ( mid 20th Century)

When a kina is used aspayment in a ceremony, it is often stained with bright red dyes as here: thefront side is reddish colored. When the rear side of one of those pieces bearsmarkings of clay and resin, it means that it was once presented on a tray andattached with resin onto it like the one worn on photo 5. It is even morevaluable as a currency then and demands further respect.

Necklaces, headbands andarmbands are knotted from handmade string and may include seeds, trade beads,feathers and fur, grasses and ferns, croton leaves, yellow orchid vine,everlasting daisies, links of bamboo and fiber chains.

At feasts or bride negotiations, togetherwith other bride presents, a corresponding number of Kina Shells were presentedon a tray.

The carrying suspension isred inked with natural pigment colors. The fastening ends are decorated withcowry shells. Marks of naming the Kina Shell can sometimes be recognized on therear side.

The Kina Shells of the Foi tribe are reddishcolored and are sometimes decorated with scratch and/or point decorations atthe rims with a carrying suspension always inked brown or rust or brick red.Particular large and beautiful Kina Shells were often given their own name andkept in richly decorated bags. They were offered as gifts during ceremonies andfeasts.

The Kina Shell is part of theshell of the Gold lip shell (Pinctada maximums) and was part of the traditionalpayment and medium of exchange in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. It is at theorigin of the name given to the modern currency: \"Kina\", in Papua NewGuinea.

These shells are still used in traditionalceremonial payments and currency to this day throughoutPapua New Guinea. Traded from the coast into the highlands, Kina shells areused for bride price, blood feud paybacks, wealth displays and exchangefestivals.

We are closing our doors so everything hasbeen reduced!

Check Dominique Rice Oceania Store in SunSentinel Newspaper, Fort Lauderdale, for information on our collection andauthentic art.

If you have any questions, contact us or callfor documents and further information on pieces.

All our collector and rareitems come with pages and pages of research about provenance, and with historyof the tribes and photos as well, depending on item and whenever possible. Whenshipping internationally, we group ship multiple purchases to save you money,and find the best rates which often fails to calculate right. If you have anyquestions or want to see research conducted on this piece and photos of tribes,email or call us.

We have artifacts andarchitectural accents up to 10 ft tall that we will put on upon request becauseshipping has to be calculated accordingly with trucking company.

Shells are Gold to the remote tribes of thehighlands, and

Kina jewelry is the most important of all.

When the Leahy brothers came into theHighlands of Papua New Guinea searching for gold, they found people who valuedthe gold-lipped pearl shell as much as the miners valued gold. Shells arevaluable all over New Guinea, but especially so in the Highlands where thetraditional trading contacts between tribes slowly passed shells from ocean tomountain valleys. The mountain people had no concept of the sea, but theywanted the rare, glowing shells. After contact, at the time, the Leahy\'s andothers flew in thousands of shells to pay their laborers.

Kinas, mother of pearlnecklaces, are rare treasures from Papua, were worn either alone or inquantities and made of large mother of pearl moon shaped pieces (thegold-lipped pearl shell is cut into crescent shapes called kina)& decorated with fibers, brownpigments etc…

Warriors wear kina shells as displays ofwealth and focus of their dress.

The polished, crescent-shaped shell with 2drillings at each end is considered a true object of value. Some Kina Shellshave a broad woven band, some have a simple cord with pulled up seed capsules,or just a simple carrying cord.

The Kina Shell was an object of value and anessential part of the bride price. The value is judged by the condition of theshell, the size and the color. Most valued were the reddish colored KinaShells. They had the highest rank and price in the Mount Hagen area.

In the past, 8 Kina Shells were worth afully-grown pig, for one shell one could get 1 small pig. The value of the KinaShell surely varied from region to region. Until the 1960`s it had a fixedexchange rate of 12 shillings per pair

We carry many other artifacts we collectdirect from the tribes, in East and West Papua and the Trobriands and remoteislands of Indonesia, and that we put atsale and on the buy it now in our storeon a regular base.