Gift of Kay Hodnett Nunez

Gift of Adelaide Goan

Round basket with imbricated decoration and cotton thread embellishment. Basket is wide at middle, inclining to a smaller base and mouth. Construction is a small, tight coil with tight, even redbud root wrapping. The imbricated decoration is in patterns of stepped triangles. Light cotton thread has been sewn at the lip in several sets of two long stitches, with a single zigzag pattern amongst them.

Short sleeved dress in the colours of the New Caledonian flag. The neck of the garment is rounded, with a short vertical opening at back, closed by three buttons. Thin, decorative strips of red and green fabric are sewn around the chest and upper back area. Sleeves culminate in elastic gatherings, with fringe at the edges. The skirt has a dropped waist with a fringed hem.

Short-sleeved, light green cotton shirt with dark green floral design and five white plastic buttons. Shirt opens at the front, with button closure. Neck has a starched collar. A large pocket is sewn on at the front left chest. Sleeves are hemmed. Small slits at both sides at bottom hem.

Short-sleeved, light green cotton dress with dark green floral design. Neck is square at back, V at front. Sleeves culminate in elastic with gathered and pleated cuffs. Waist has four small fabric panels per side, sewn into the hem. Bottom hem of dress is scalloped. All hems and fabric ends have been machine sewn with green thread.

Embroidered cloth depicting scenes of civilian experience during a war. The piece is a small square of blue cotton cloth with bright, detailed embroidery of three situations depicted in horizontal strips across the fabric. The top strip shows a group of people attempting to escape from two soldiers. A man and woman in traditional garb with bags on their backs run away from two soldiers dressed in green and carrying guns. A woman lies dead between the two parties, her living child beneath her crying. One solider grasps another child by the ankles and bangs his head against a rock, drawing blood. In the central strip, four people attempt escape down a river that has been embroidered in white thread. In the bottom scene, a soldier in green stands with a paper and pen in front of a line of civilians, each with a backpack, some weeping. Every scene is surrounded by flowers and greenery.

Arrow has long wooden shaft, tapering slightly and reddening toward nock. Fletching has come loose and is attached to shaft with string. At bottom, the point is sunk into the wood and secured with wrapped sinew. The point is copper, cylindrical in shape, with incised circles and diagonal lines along its length. The tip has 4 outward barbs surrounding the central point.

Museum Expedition 1938, Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Staff made of thick, stiff strands of dried grass, wrapped with raffia in an open weave to make up the handle. From the bottom protrudes a tuft of raffia, wrapped with a band of woven white fabric and grey plastic twine. Two circular patches of raffia are attached close to the base, topped with cowrie shells arranged in a flower motif. The top of the staff is covered in unbleached cotton, edged with two kinds of braided synthetic banding. Attached to the cotton are three small gourd rattles, also wrapped in open raffia weaving, each with a single cowrie shell and plastic bead decoration. Three lines of cowrie shells are glued to the cotton between the gourds.