‘Kap kap’ is the name of a headdress worn by high-ranking men on a wide, woven headband positioned centrally on the forehead or on the side on the temple. This object was used in the north of the Island of New Ireland (northeast of New Guinea), as well as on the Western Solomon Islands.
A ‘Kap kap’ consists of a round, white disc, which was cut and smoothed from the shell of a giant clam (‘Tridacna gigas’). To this white disc a round, contrasting dark-brown, finely executed disc made of tortoiseshell was applied and firmly affixed to the white shell disc underneath through a central hole with a string made of plant fibres. The tortoiseshell was obtained from the carapace of a sea turtle.
Subsequently, individual tortoiseshell discs were painstakingly cut by specialists, with fine filigree patterns in circular bands surrounding a central motif. These patterns displayed the rank of the kap kap’s bearer.
In its tortoiseshell decoration, the present ‘kap kap’ features six very finely executed, all-round pattern bands, encircling a central motif consisting of three connected lines that form six waves. The vegetal string that links it to the white shell disc terminates on the front in three short hanks adorned with small red pearls made of polished shells.
On the reverse, this ’kap kap’ features a carrying strap for affixing it to a headband, which is also decorated with red and white shell discs and four grey stone beads. This ‘kap kap’ is old. Its rim is chipped in one place and it shows a few minor age-related cracks. Despite this, the tortoiseshell appliqué is wholly complete, which is rare.
Diameter: c. 13.8 cm (the whole disc). Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance: French private collection.

Lit.: ‘Schmuck der Südsee’ von Heermann & Menter, Abb. 44, 45; ‘Varilaku. Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islands’ von Crispin Howarth & Deborah Waite, Abb. S. 75; ‘Ozeanien. Kult und Visionen’ von U. Menter, Abb. 141; ‘Pacific Jewelry and Adornment’ von R. Neich & F. Pereira, Abb. S. 115; ‘L’Eclat des Ombres’, Katalog Musée Quai Branly Paris, Abb. S. 48, 105, 109.