Kundiawa, Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Accession Date:
7 Nov 2019
Collection Date:
28 Jan 2012
Notes:
Bilum (bag) made of acrylic yarn. Background of narrow blue and white stripes, overlaid with large diamond pattern in blue, white, and red. Short, single handle. Donor notes: Maker, Jenny. Cost: K90. An acrylic bilum worked in maroon, dark green, blue, and white yarn. The yarn has been stripped and re-plied to make a finer thread. The stitching is a finer version of the “fish scale” technique (Sepik Style?) seen also in HB14. The pattern is one of many referred to as “diamond” and is associated with the Mt. Hagen area. The mouth and joining stitches are maroon. The base is closed with tight fastening stitches in blue, maroon and green; the handle is short and doubled, featuring random alternations of the bilum's colors. This bilum was purchased at the Wara Maket second-hand clothes market in Kundiawa, Simbu Province, and was sold by relatives of the woman who made it.
