BM_Oc1982_01_5
Title: A message stick from Queensland held in the British Museum
Description: Message stick with incised design of crossed lines; painted. Made of wood, pigment.
Message: Carved by tribal 'gins,' carried through nose, ensures safety of messenger traveling through tribes at war. R4374/1937.
Date Created: 1937
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: QLD
Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is given simply as “Queensland (North)”. It therefore cannot be a associated with a linguistic area.
Dimension 1: 175mm Dimension 2: 14mm Dimension 3: 11mm
Materials: wood
Techniques: incised, pigmented
Source types: museum collection
Date collected: Acquisition date: 1982
Institution/Holder file: The British Museum object identifier: Oc1982,01.5
Collector: Donated by: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine Curator's comments: "Carried through the nose. Ensures safety of messenger travelling through warring tribes. Register 1982: "Wood message stick; painted red, incised design is painted white. Oval cross section. Carved by tribal 'gins,' carried through nose, ensures safety of messenger travelling through tribes at war. R4374/1937. N.QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA."
Media copyright: The British Museum British Museum Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
IRN: EOC27430
Notes: Additional IDs: R.4374/1937 (Wellcome Collection Number) PK: No more images to request from BM. 30.11.23 NR: checked against BM online catalogue.
Media Files:
Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup, Nitzan Rotman