Dagger carved from a cassowary leg bone with cassowary feathers and seed ornaments. One end of the bone is sharpened into a triangular point. The other end of the bone has a woven plant fibre cover from which hang seven ornaments held in place by woven thread. Each ornament is made of two hollowed red seeds and a long black hollow tube inserted between the seeds. The other ornament is made with one white and brown plastic bead instead of a red seed. Black and brown cassowary feathers are wrapped tightly with the remaining thread at the end of each ornament.

Mwana pwo dance mask with long reed-like hair. The female face is carved of a single piece of wood; the facial features protrude. The eyes are almost closed, with thin slits; the surrounding eye area is emphasized. The nose is small with a thin bridge, the mouth also small and contains small carved teeth. Facial scarring is indicated under the eyes and across the cheeks. The forehead is decorated in incised motifs and line patterns. Ears a small, each with a large hole in the lobe. Attached to the wood face panel is a thick netting of grass that covers the back of the head, with a braid encircling the chin. Attached to the net by long twists of grass are cut pieces of hollow bamboo reeds, strung on to hang like hair.

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund

Large woven string bag (bilum) decorated with stripes of dyes fibre and animal fur. Bag has a curved bottom and wide opening, with the long handles tied together at the ends. The ends have tassels. The bag has stripes in atlernating bands of colours and undyed fibre, as well as bands with animal fur woven in. The widest stripes are purple, with green, yellow and red also used. The lower edges of the opening are oversewn in orange.

Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund

Multiple pages of Buddhist scripture written in Tham script. Scripture is etched into long rectangular palm leaves which are tied between two wooden covers with carved diamond and X designs. Book is joined together by a long string of twine that threads through two holes in the wood and through the palm leaves.

Figure of a black angel with a brown wooden base (part b). The figure has a black head and hands formed out of clay. The head of the figure is hair formed from many green cone-like shapes. There are small gold-coloured beads embedded in the cone-like shapes. The figure has white eyes with brown irises; its lips are red. The head is hollow to accommodate the base. The angel does not have a neck; instead, its head is attached to a knitted t-shaped dress, from which the angel’s arms are extended outwards. The dress has wool fibres intermingled with plant fibres. There are various small objects affixed to the dress. There are four bottle caps placed across the angel’s chest and arms. The bottle cap on the furthest left has a small image printed on paper embedded within it. The image depicts an angel appearing to a group of people with a European-style cathedral in the background. The image in the bottle cap to the right depicts a young shepherd holding a staff and surrounded by sheep. Right of this bottle cap, another image in a bottle cap depicts an older shepherd with a halo. The bottle cap on the furthest right has an image in it depicting an angel in a pink dress feeding birds. Below the bottle caps, on the left side of the angel’s torso, there is a small clothes pin that is painted blue. The clip holds a rectangular piece of paper with an image of a man printed on it; he is depicted from the torso up. The man has black hair and a black mustache. The man wears a blue suit jacket, blue vest and blue tie over a white dress shirt; he also has a white pocket square. Right of the image of the man is a miniature clear plastic bottle with a blue liquid inside. The bottle is tied to the dress with purple ribbon. Next to the bottle, there is a small bronze-coloured cross attached to the dress. Right of the cross, a miniature white and blue ceramic spoon is tied to the dress with purple ribbon. Below the picture of the man, there is a miniature white and blue cup tied to the dress with purple ribbon. Right of the cup, there is another bottle cap that has an image embedded within it. The image depicts Madonna holding baby Jesus. Both figures wear elaborate crowns and are surrounded by a yellow halo. Next to the bottle cap, there is a small clothes pin painted red. On the right side of the dress, there is a gold-coloured coin with an image of a domed building on one side and an image of Jesus Christ on the other. It is tied to the dress with green ribbon. Below the cup, there is a small plastic figure of a baby tied to the dress with a green ribbon. It has brown hair, black eyes and red lips. Right of the baby, there is a bottle cap with an image printed on paper embedded within it. The image depicts Jesus Christ holding a lamb. Below this bottle cap, there is a bronze-coloured flower with a stem and two leaves. Next to the flower, in the lower right corner of the dress, there is a bottle cap with an image of Jesus Christ sitting and praying embedded in it. The angel’s wings are made of two pieces of silver metal. They are knitted into the back of the dress. The base is formed by a thin cylindrical piece of wood that is held in a square wooden base.

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Gift of Pratt Institute