Marmar

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Necklace

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There are numerous necklaces made from shells and plant materials found within Antonie Brandeis’ collection. An especially beautiful and rare example is this necklace fashioned from blackish-brown, round fruit, glass beads and thin discs of shell discs. It is furnished with a trapezoid pendant made from a curved, thin, red shell disc. The shell (II/0766a) used in this instance is very rare, which means that the necklace is very valuable. According to the collector, it was intended as a necklace for a child.

Data Provider
Museen Freiburg Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Halskette
Dimensions
Length: 220.0 mm
Material/Technique
Fruit, Glass beads, Shell
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
II/0781
Related object(s)

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    before 1900
  • Change of legal title:
    Donation
    when
    22.11.1901
    who
    Brandeis, Eugen - Former Possessors
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    Marshall Islands (location/origin)
    Micronesia (location/origin)
    who
    Brandeis, Antonie - Collectors
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Oceania
Provenance
Donated by Eugen Brandeis (Imperial Governor of the Marshall Islands) November 1901, collected by Antonie Brandeis (Jaluit) /Donated by Eugen Brandeis (Imperial Governor of the Marshall Islands) November 1901, collected by Antonie Brandeis (Jaluit) Object no. 27 (Object list Antonie Brandeis, 2nd consignment Nov 1901, SAF C3/241/2): "Child's necklace. Rare red shell". The collector's additional comment on object II/0780 also fits the pendant of this necklace: "[...] The individual pieces are taken from a shell which is imported from other groups. Each shell has only one red spot, which is knocked out and then rubbed back and forth on a stone using a piece of tapping stone until the required shape and smoothness is achieved. This involves hours or even days of work for each small link of the chain." ("Bemerkungen zu den dem Museum zu Freiburg /B. übersandten ethnologischen Gegenständen aus den Marshallinseln. South Seas", SAF D.Sm 35/1). The rarity of the shell and the great amount of work involved in making it made such pieces of jewellery very valuable. They tended to be worn by members of high-ranking families. The collector reports several times how she received gifts from visiting chiefs and especially their wives. These will often have been prestigious objects such as this one.

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC0 1.0 DEED

Related objects

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