Early 20th C. Massim Mwali Conus Shell Armlet, Papua New Guinea

Oceania, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Massim region. A mwali, or shell armlet, cut from the broad shoulder of a cone shell recorded as Conus millepunctatus and ground into a smooth band that tapers slightly. Most of the surface is polished to a milky white. At the overlapping join, though, the shell keeps its natural pattern of chocolate-brown dashes set in neat rows, like a line of unread script. A short row of drilled holes runs along the free edge, probably for the cowries, seeds, beads, and pendants that dressed mwali for ceremonial display. Armlets of this kind are associated with the kula exchange of the Massim archipelago, which includes the Trobriand Islands. This example was probably made to circulate as a valuable rather than to be worn every day. It is a plain band whose real ornament was its reputation. The kula is a ceremonial exchange system that links the island communities of the Massim region, off the eastern tip of New Guinea. Among them are the Trobriand, Woodlark, Amphlett, and d'Entrecasteaux groups. Bronisław Malinowski made the system famous in Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922). Partners on different islands passed two kinds of valuables around a great ring of sea routes. White conus-shell armlets (mwali) traveled counterclockwise, and red Spondylus shell-disc necklaces (soulava, also called bagi) traveled clockwise. Each gift was eventually answered with a gift of the other kind. Nobody kept these valuables for good. A man held a mwali for a time, gained prestige from having it, and then passed it on. Celebrated pieces built up names and histories as they moved from partner to partner. Their worth came as much from that record of exchange as from the shell itself. Many were never worn on the arm at all. They were dressed for display during exchange ceremonies, hung with cowries, seeds, trade beads, and other attachments. Making a mwali took a great deal of work. The maker knocked away the spire and base of a large cone shell, then ground and polished the remaining ring. These armlets belong to a wider Melanesian tradition of shell valuables, in which polished shell served as wealth, marked status, and bound communities together through obligation. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 206053

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