Subject: ngwane ramo warrior chief
Culture: Solomon Islander
Setting: slave raiding, tribal warfare, Solomon Islands mid 19th-early 20thc
Object: ornaments
Headwear
* Varilaku 2011 p75 (Crispin Howarth, "The works" p43-119)
"Disc-shaped adornments of turtle shell placed over a white shell backing and commonly known a kap kap were produced by communities in Papua New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, New Ireland and Bougainville, through the Solomon Islands to the Santa Cruz Islands.
"In the Solomon Islands these adornments are better known by the Marovo word dala. They were, and occasionally still are, worn on the forehead, less often suspended around the neck. Dala were the property of important people; they made it clear that the wearer was of standing in the community. At first glance they may appear to have a certain homogeneity, but on closer inspection their openwork designs show a great diversity of motifs and no two are identical.
"With great precision, artists worked a section of giant clam shell (Tridacna gigas) into a smooth, flat and astonishingly circular disc. Endless grinding against slabs of coral in shallow rock pools, and the use of other abrasives such as sand and water, was required to achieve the disc's highly polished, smooth and shining surface.
"Creating the complex, delicate fretwork designs in the turtle shell overlays perhaps took equally as long, painstaking attention and concentrated effort being needed to ensure the radial pattern remained strong. Dala of this kind demonstrate an artist's mastery of geometric design, created by cutting away at the turtle shell with the head of an iron nail or similarly sharp object to produce extraordinarily refined concentric lines and linear curves. A centrally placed hole drilled in the calm shell and turtle-shell sections enabled fiber string to be drawn trough to tie them together for attachment to a headband."
Bands
* Varilaku 2011 p66 (Crispin Howarth, "The works" p43-119)
"Great care and attention was taken in creating armbands ..., for they were the equivalent of very expensive jewellery, a display of the wearer's wealth. The currency value of each armband was determined by the tightness in production of the geometric designs and the richness of coloration of the red shells; in the early twentieth century a foot length of red shell beads was worth around a shilling in Malaita, a considerable sum. ... While armbands are predominantly a prestigious male ornament, women have been known to wear them at special occasions such as their wedding."
Pendant
* Varilaku 2011 p73 (Crispin Howarth, "The works" p43-119)
"Circular pendants from the south-eastern Solomon Islands have been recorded by many names, including papafita at Owaraha and ulute at Ulawa and Maramasike Islands."
