Feather Currency, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands

Christie's East, New York, June 11, 1996, lot 90
Abraham Rosman and Paula Rubel, New York, acquired at the above auction

Feather currency, or tevau, was often exchanged for services and goods such as canoes, crops, turtles, and pigs, as well as during ceremonies such as marriages. Tevau required great expertise and skill to make. They were created by craftspeople from the Ndende Island, who would catch honeyeater birds, collecting only four feathers from each. Feather currencies could therefore include feathers from over three hundred birds. Each feather was attached to overlapping platelets, which were fixed on a fiber coil. The structure of the currency is clearly visible in this piece in places where the vibrant feathers have been lost. When not in use, tevau would be protected with powerful charms and the coil was wrapped in palm leaves and bark cloth.