Tattooing Equipment

Object name: Tattooing Equipment

Date: 1775-1850

Dimensions:

180 x 125 mm

Medium: Wood, coconut fibre, shell

Object number: C03156

DescriptionVessel for storing tattooing instruments. Wood decorated with finely netted cord and pearl shell pieces. The lid is missing. The bottom of the vessel is open, perhaps serving as a strainer for the candlenut soot pigment used in the tattooing process. Said to be from the Friendly Islands and purchased in 1850. Polynesia.

Culture: Oceania