Such pendant discs, called ‘Tema’, which today are very rare, were worn on the chest by high-ranking men during ceremonies and dances on the Santa Cruz Islands (part of the Solomon Islands). This ornament consists of a round, white disc, which was cut and smoothed from the shell of a giant clam (‘Tridacna gigas’). A dark brown, starkly contrasting carving made of tortoiseshell was traditionally applied to the white disc. Cut from the carapace of a sea tortoise and firmly affixed by means of a twisted and woven string made of plant fibres through a central hole in the shell disc. In the present piece, the dark tortoiseshell overlay displays the silhouette of a flying frigate bird (below) and is surmounted by five rows of tuna fish (there are actually ten tuna fish). The present, rare ornamental ‘Tema’ disc is old. It has small areas of repairs made of coquina on the front and on the reverse. Otherwise there is no significant damage.
Diameter: 17.3 cm x 18 cm (the shell disc); height: 13.7 cm (the tortoiseshell appliqué).
Between the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. (ME) ASA

Provenance:
French private collection.

Lit.:
‘Schmuck der Südsee’ by Heermann & Menter, ill. 29; ‘Solomon Island Art’ by Deborah Waite & Kevin Conru, ill. 107; ‘Ozeanien. Kult und Visionen’ by U. Menter, ill. 142; ‘Pacific Jewelry and Adornment’ by R. Neich & F. Pereira, ill. p. 129; ‘L’éclat des Ombres’, catalogue Musée Quai Branly, Paris, ill. p. 108.