Ornament or Currency

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Origin Lumi

Title Ornament or Currency (Wafu)

Date Unknown

Medium Nassa shells and fiber

Dimensions Object: 23 1/4 × 34 3/8 × 3/4 in. (59.1 × 87.3 × 1.9 cm)
Overall: 23 1/4 × 34 3/8 × 3/4 in. (59.1 × 87.3 × 1.9 cm)

Credit Line Gift of Helen L. Wheeler, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2001.19

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About this Work

In addition to being an object of adornment that communicates social standing and wealth, this ornament was also used as a form of currency. This type of currency would have been used for important and large ceremonial payments such as from a groom to the family of his bride-to-be.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Ornament or Currency | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2001.19