Producer unknown to us
Part of a chest jewellery (niho palaoa)
Oceania, Hawaii
Prior to 1869
Tooth of a sperm whale, carved, pierced
Collector unknown to us
Acquisition from the Heimatmuseum Veste Wachsenburg in the course of the GDR “museum profiling” program in 1966
Po 1901
This hook-shaped sperm whale tooth was part of a neck ornament (lei niho palaoa) worn as the central piece of a necklace made of braided human hair. It was a status symbol for the members of the highest-ranking noble caste (ali'i) and could be worn by both men and women. As an ensemble, this piece of jewelry and the corresponding feathered helmets, were an embodiment of the mana, the spiritual power of the nobles, whose ancestral lineage was directly descended from the gods.
This object was taken over from the Museum of Local History Veste Wachsenburg in 1966 as part of the GDR's museum profiling campaign. The exact circumstances of its acquisition are not clear to this day.
Birgit Scheps-Bretschneider