This striking piece comes from Papua New Guinea and was handmade by local artisans with varved clam shells, cowrie shells and beads embroidered together with natural fiber.

On Papua shells represent prosperity and are often used during wedding ceremonies, believed to bring emotional and financial wealth, while the teeth are thought to evoke power.
Here shell necklaces have been worn by local tribes since ancient times, to enhance the body as well as marking status and achievements. With the shell’s strong mythological importance they were considered to be the links between the human and the spiritual world, bringing fertility and well-being.

In the past, shells travelled on long pathways through the Asian Pacific, used as exchange items or currency and for creating ties and relationships between people.