Skip to main content
Shell Currency; mid to late 20th Century
Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Shell, …
Currency Mat
Shell Currency; mid to late 20th Century
Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Shell, …
Shell Currency; mid to late 20th Century Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia Shell, fiber and pigment; 17 1/2 × 13 1/2 × 1 in. 2017.10.56 Anonymous Gift

Currency Mat

ClassificationsCurrency and Exchange Objects
Datemid to late 20th Century
Collection SiteMorobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Made AtMorobe Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumShell, plant fiber, and pigment
Dimensionswith strings: 17 1/2 × 13 1/2 × 1 in. (44.5 × 34.3 × 2.5 cm)
Credit LineAnonymous Gift
Object number2017.10.56
DescriptionThis piece of shell currency was collected from the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. In many Melanesian communities, shells were utilized as a form of currency and simultaneously as supplies for high-priced commodities. As a form of currency, shells were used in trades along the coast and nearby islands. The further distance a shell traveled, the higher their value would increase. Therefore, the price and social value of a shell-made object increased depending on the inclusion of a well-traveled shell. A shell will signify important qualities about the wearer their wealth, initiation level within a clan membership, and ideas of ritual practice. As a bride price exchange, the use of particular shell may indicate the bride new family’s financial and social influence in the community.
On View
Not on view
Necklace, mid 20th Century
Sepik River Region, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesi…
mid 20th Century
Shell Ornament, mid 20th Century
Sepik River region, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Me…
mid 20th Century
Necklace, mid 20th Century
Highlands area, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Fiber, shell and pigme…
mid 20th Century
Shell Trumpet, late 19th to early 20th Century
Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia…
late 19th to early 20th Century
Pendant, mid to late 20th Century
Melanesia
Shell and fiber; 6 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 1 1/4 in.
2017.…
mid to late 20th Century
Shell Spoon, mid 20th Century
Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Manus Province, Papua N…
mid-20th Century
Soup Bowl, mid 20th Century
Abelam culture; Maprik-Wosera area, East Sepik Province, Papua New…
Abelam
mid 20th Century
Shell Necklace; late 20th Century
Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, New Guinea, Melanesia
Sh…
late 20th Century
Headdress, mid 20th Century
Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Bailer sh…
mid 20th Century
Shell Ring Currency (Tabu), 20th Century
possibly Tolai culture; East New Britain Province, Pa…
Tolai
20th Century
Shell Currency, mid 20th Century
Melanesia
Shell, beads, fish wire and yarn; 58 × 1/8 × 1/8 i…
mid 20th Century
Shell Currency, mid 20th Century
Rossel Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesi…
mid 20th Century