Spoon Currency

ClassificationsFurnishings-Serviceware-utensils-spoons

Date20th Century

Collection SiteMadang Province, Papua New Guinea

MediumGreen snail shell

Dimensions6 1/4 × 2 7/8 × 3 1/2 in. (15.9 × 7.3 × 8.9 cm)

Credit LineBowers Museum Purchase

Object number2002.51.1

DescriptionThis elegant spoon (one of two pictured) is made from the shell of a green snail and served not only as a functional item, but also as a form of currency and an adornment worn around the neck. The Manus Green Tree Snail is endemic to Manus Island to the northeast of the island of New Guinea, but this spoon was collected deep in the Schrader-Gebirge mountain range of Papua New Guinea's Madang Province. The distance traveled by this item is a testament to the vast and complex nature of currency trade throughout Papua New Guinea. The shells of this species of snail are popular with shell collectors and, partly as a result of this, the species is now near being threatened.

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