Armband
Object Label
Throughout northern Vanuatu, an island nation in the Southwest Pacific, men gain political power by participating in a series of complex economic tests. Each achieved social rank grants a man the right to wear specific insignia or ornaments. This armband would have been worn on the upper left arm to signify a particular economic accomplishment and to mark the man as someone of high status.
Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, ni-Vanuatu artists began replacing white and brown beads made from shell and coconut wood with more colorful European glass beads.
Caption
ni-Vanuatu. Armband, mid 19th–mid 20th century. Glass beads, fiber, 3 3/8 × 3 15/16 × 4 5/16 in. (8.5 × 10 × 11 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Ingeborg de Beausacq, 64.248.51. Creative Commons-BY
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Armband
Date
mid 19th–mid 20th century
Geography
Place made: Vanuatu
Medium
Glass beads, fiber
Classification
Dimensions
3 3/8 × 3 15/16 × 4 5/16 in. (8.5 × 10 × 11 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Ingeborg de Beausacq
Accession Number
64.248.51
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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