University of Rochester

Rediscovering Cultural Treasures from the Pacific Islands

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    Sardine net (Choiseul Island, Solomon Islands) with label in P.G. Black’s neat handwriting. Creator unknown.
    (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C11464)
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    Plaque (barava or venu) with fretwork patterns, made from flat piece of fossilized giant clam shell (Vella Lavella Island, Solomon Islands). Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C11751)
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    Wooden human figure, attributed by P.G. Black to Mutuaga, a master carver from the Suau area near South Cape, Papua New Guinea; a likely early example (c. 1902) of “tourist art.” (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C11024)
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    Ring or earring ornamented with European shirt buttons, Fergusson Island, Papua New Guinea. Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C10476)
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    Fishing kites from Dobu Island and Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea; an ingenious apparatus for catching the jumping gar fish. Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C10117/C11747)
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    Another view of fishing kites from Dobu Island and Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea. Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C10117/C11747)
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    Painted toy wooden birds, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands. Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C10089)
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    Bicornual basket (jawun) woven from cane; Northern Queensland, Australia, where P.G. Black began his collecting in the 1880s. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C8790)
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    Incised bark waist belt, with dancing figure, worn by men for special ceremonies (Orokolo Bay, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea). Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C9165)
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    Spear point, made of pressure flaked European bottle glass (Kimberly region, Western Australia); highly desired by 19th century collectors. Creator unknown. (photo courtesy of Buffalo Museum of Science, C12365)

 

Anthropologist Robert Foster travels across the globe to do field research in Papua New Guinea. But just a short drive from his home in Upstate New York, at the Buffalo Museum of Science, he stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest collections of Pacific Islands artifacts.