This striking object is a moka kina from the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. These are used in ritual exchange and worn as a pectoral. They are a gold-lipped kina shell embedded in a natural resin base and painted with a powdery orange ochre. The fiber strap has a number of jaw bones from a small tree marsupial called "mumut" in Pidgin. Overall the piece is 17 ½" in height, dates to the 1940's. sold