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Japanese lacquerware smoking cabinet, Portable cabinets to hold pipe smoking accessories were common in Japanese homes and shops in the 19th century. Fitted with three drawers, this example is decorated on all four sides with auspicious symbols and domestic scenes. The containers on top were probably intended to hold ash and coals used for lighting the tobacco.

Rectangular slab of worked bone with a curved, bevelled edge. Surface around the edge is smooth with polishing marks evident.

Partially manufactured hook

Partially finished shank fragment.

Tooth pendant. Three broken suspension holes at the root. Single drilled hole in the centre. Back side has been reduced into a convex cross-section.

Drilled fishhook tab

Drilled fishhook tab

Complete pendant made from a whale tooth. Curved to a point at the distal end. Surface is worn and in poor condition. Proximal end is squared off with a suspension hole at one corner, drilled from both sides. Evidence of broken projections running along the external edge.

Complete pounamu/Nephrite hei tiki. Mid-green inanga variety with white inclusions. Westland source. Head turned to left. Serrated paua shell inlaid into eyes. Nostrils, pointed tongue, chin, and forehead indicated. Arms rest on thighs, legs joined with three toes either foot. Perforation drilled front at centre top through scarf cut across rear.

Mostly complete patu paraoa, broken at the butt and heavily weathered on the blade edges and back side. Front surface is smooth. Butt is broken with a projection remaining on one side, possibly the remains of a broken perforation. Pronounced shoulders where the handle meets the blade. Decorative ridges and grooves at the proximal end of the blade. There is a projection on the proper right side with a small perforation drilled from both sides; left side also appears to have had a similar projection which has broken off.

Possible fragment of waka. One perforation hole drilled from two sides. Burnt at one end around a possible second perforation. Flat on top and slight curve. White clay remains on article.

Broken, unfinished putatara. The apex of the spire has been broken off, but there are no perforations to attach a mouthpiece, and the interior spire is intact. The majority of the body is broken off. There are no obvious signs of working.

Cut pile embroidered raffia cloth., These textiles are made by the Kuba people of the Kasai river area of Central Zaire. A plain weave raffia fabric was woven by the men and embroidered by the women with great accuracy and skill. The fine lines of the design are stitched with dyed raffia and the pile areas are stitched with groups of fine raffia fibres which are then cut to short even lengths. The abstract designs are often similar to wood carvings, house decorations and the ritual body scars of both men and women. These cloths display wealth and prestige on ceremonial occasions. They assume great importance at funerals where they reaffirm enduring social relationships and, as burial cloths, indicate adherence to belief in after life.

Beaded woman's circlet headband

Beaded woman's circlet headband

These arrows and quiver were used with a blowpipe for hunting.

The canine teeth of the Clouded leopard, native to Sarawak, were highly prized by the Iban., They were often fashioned into men’s ear ornaments such as this beaded ear ornament. The skins of the Clouded leopard were used as ceremonial coats and seating mats. Today, the Clouded leopard is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as its numbers have declined due to hunting and illegal poaching.

For hundreds of years, the Iban people have carved the highly prized beaks of the Helmeted hornbill bird into jewellery, such as the earring and ear ornament displayed here., The Iban also traded unprocessed Helmeted hornbill beaks with the Chinese people, exchanging the beaks for beads, iron, cash, crockery and large decorative jars. The Chinese coloured the beaks using the preen gland o f the Helmeted hornbill and carved them into belt buckles for high ranking officials. In the 14th century, the Chinese regarded Helmeted hornbill beaks as more valuable than jade.