 for ornament or service I cannot say, but I incline to think for both. It looks very well, and may in battle fend off a spear. It is of a single large pearl shell six inches in diameter, worked by some means to look very smooth and beautiful.
In the same work, a drawing by Lieutenant G. Tobin (46, p. 134) shows a man standing up in a canoe with a many-barbed spear in his right hand, a pearl-shell ornament held by the hair "wreath" in his left hand, and another pearl-shell ornament hanging on his breast. The ornament held in the hand appears to be a full-sized shell and the one on the breast appears to have been cut down to a crescentic shape like those from Mauke. The pearl shells were used entirely for ornament and not for the additional purpose of warding off a weapon as Tobin surmised.page 122
Figure 66.—Pearl-shell breast ornaments from Aitutaki and Mauke. a, Aitutaki: single pearl shell (1) pierced with four holes along upper hinge margin for attachment of coil (2) of 32 strands of two-ply cord of bast fiber dyed brown; at ends of coil folds, a thicker two-ply cord (3) of undyed bast (hibiscus?) is tied for suspension around neck (Auckland Mus., 14488). b, Mauke: part of shell (1) is crescentic in form with upper concave edge; holes bored at each upper corner for attachment of single human hair braid (2) which is passed through holes, and ends tied with overhand knots (Otago University Mus.). c, Mauke: more crescentic form than b; hole at each end to which are tied ends of a suspension braid of human hair; one unengaged hole is pierced below middle of upper edge (Samuela Ariki coll.).
Pearl-shell Breast Ornament (Mauke)
Skinner (61, p. 276) figures a pearl-shell ornament from Mauke. The upper edge is concave with a hole bored at either end. The suspensory element consists of a single length of fine human hair braid (fig. 66, b). Skinner's informant, W. Drury Low, states that examples have been found in more than one burial cave. If the shell of the ornament figured was found in a burial cave, it is probable that the original suspensory element had decayed and has been replaced by the single length of braid.
Skinner (62, p. 187) figures another pearl-shell breast ornament submitted to him for inspection by the owner Samuela Ariki of Mauke (fig. 66, c). page 123The pearl shell has been cut down to a much smaller size with a markedly concave upper border. Like the other Mauke ornament, it has a hole near the upper corners, but it has an additional hole in the middle. This ornament is supported by a single piece of human hair braid; and Skinner remarks that, although neatly done, the braid is quite modern, as are the holes which were drilled with a steel drill. It is probable that the ornament was made after I derived information from Samuela Ariki during my stay on Mauke in 1929. The recent origin of the second Mauke ornament casts doubts upon the age of the first one. It is evident that the Mauke people, like the Rarotongans, have engaged in manufacturing curios for the market but that they lack old original specimens to provide the true pattern. Skinner quotes W. Drury Low as saying that in pre-European times these pendants were sometimes fastened to the head by plaiting with the uncut hair. This is undoubtedly a neo-myth, for the Polynesians were too good as craftsmen to attempt any such inconvenient method.
Figure 67.—Ornamental body cord from Mangaia (British Mus.). a, looped end: elements in looped end are loop of well-plaited sennit (1), 8 mm. wide and 5 mm. thick, loop of sennit closely wrapped with human hair (2), and a single length of hair-wrapped braid (3) with its end (4) neatly seized with fine sennit. Seized elements are three lengths of sennit, each 4 mm. wide, laid together in triangular form and seized closely with black hair twisted into a tight roll about 2 mm. thick. Seizing extends throughout length of triple braids making them about 8 mm. in diameter. About 78 mm. from end of loops, the five elements are lashed together (5) with fine sennit from below upward, and braid is passed under some loose