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Description: | Pearlshell Pubic Shield, Riji, Ngarla people, Kimberley Region, Western Australia, Australia
For several different ethnic groups of the coastal western Kimberley, pearlshell pendants hanging from a belt of human hair cordage were highly valuable objects. The incised meandering key design is characteristic, and was achieved by making up a durable mixture of powdered red clay and melted resin.
Termed riji, these pubic shields were used for a number of different purposes: as well as garments, they were also used as a form of currency, and could be found more than 1000 km inland around the turn of the 20th Century.
Riji have a strong association with water for the people of the western Kimberley, in part due to the shell’s marine origin, but also because of its shining silvery surface. Because of this, riji are also used as magical tools in rain-making ceremonies. To wear a riji was a badge of status, and only the most senior initiated men in the Kimberley were entitled to put them on, and then not all the time. Men generally had a special hiding place for their riji, which they told nobody.
Shell, human hair, pigment. Early 20th Century. Collected by Dr Emile Clement and sold by him to the Horniman Museum in 1926.
Pubic shield engraved with two Sawfish; Gold lipped pearl shell.
caption: General view of object no. 26.91 and nn5724.
caption: General view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 26.91 | Publisher: | http://www.horniman.ac.uk/ | Rights holder: | Horniman Museum and Gardens | Subjects: | shell pubic shields human hair pigment | Source: | Horniman Museum | Identifier: | oai:oai.horniman.ac.uk:object-4121 | Go to resource |
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