Object Number: MIPCM 206.015
Object Name: Body Ornament
Collection: Goldie Objects Collection
Description: Chest ornament – mairi (Motu).
Southeast coast.
Collected c. 1876–1890.
Donated by Mr & Mrs Goldie, Ferry Road,
Millport, 1978.
Crescent-shaped gold-lip pearl shell chest ornament with a suspension cord comprised of discs of red Spondylus shell, white shell and coconut-shell. 31 x 20.5 cm.
Notes: The red Spondylus shell discs in this mairi ornament suggest that this particular example originates from the southeast coast of New Guinea. Like the toia shell armlets and doa necklaces, mairi were important valuables. They featured among the goods that Motu traders took with them on their annual trading expeditions to the eastern Papuan Gulf. They were also traded to coastal villages south of Port Moresby. Relatively few mairi chest ornaments appear to have been collected before 1890 and as a result there are few early examples in museum collections.
