Heroes and Villains Case Contents

These are practical tools made from local materials. The stones are fixed to the wooden handles with gum from trees.

Small dagger in gold-covered scabbard collected in 1821-26.

Small dagger in gold-covered scabbard collected in 1821-26.

This hair pin has four long prongs and a spoon-shaped handle, which has been described as a snuff ladle.

The smaller headrest is typical of the Ashanti people in the former Gold Coast, now Ghana. It is decorated with a wash of blue pigment. The larger headrest follows the Ghanaian shape but has elements of southeast African decoration. Cross-cultural styles like this were used in South Africa. The original black paint has worn with use.
Headrests were used by African men of fairly high status and were significant personal objects, protecting the owner’s head and hairstyle.

Two of the Yoruba sculptures are ritual ‘deceased-twin substitute’ carvings. The third is a small figure with distinctive hairstyle. Such African sculptures, with bold abstract features, have had a huge influence on modern artists. The doll is Ashanti from Ghana and would be carried by a pregnant woman to promote beauty in her unborn child.
Ghana is a centre of gold mining and the Ashanti are best known for their intricate tiny brass sculptures used to weigh gold. Dried and decorated gourd rinds are from the Hausa people, northern Nigeria, as is the Qur’anic writing board of the Hausa people has been decorated to celebrate a pupil’s achievement at school, and the embroidered cap.

Captain J Graham brought back three spearheads and two spears described as ‘small’ but with shafts so long they had to be broken for transport. One spearhead was said to have belonged to the Khalifa, the Mahdi’s successor.

The weapon with double-balled handle and openwork decoration on the blade is from the Akan area of the Gold Coast and probably an Ashanti sword.

This is a Congo ceremonial sword used among the Ngombe, Ngbandi and Lokele peoples.

A souvenir with broken blade. It belonged to a fighter in the Islamic Mahdi army massacred by British troops.

The pot was formed by pressing clay into an earthen hollow, making two half-rounds then joining them together and smoothing by hand. It sits on a ring when carried on the head. The jug is used for washing before entering a mosque.

In Buddhism the elephant symbolises strength of mind, embodying calm majesty and noble gentleness. This Buddha has the hands arranged in ‘touching the earth’ pose.

The silver Buddhas are posed in the attitude of meditation. The carved alabaster Buddha, in ‘touching the earth’ pose, has small wings. All are probably from domestic shrines.

This is a cast of the fossilised jaw found in South America and given to Canterbury Philosophical and Literary Institution Museum in 1841 by General William Miller. The original was lent to the British Museum in 1845, when it was used to help establish the new species of elephant ancestor Mastodon andium. Canterbury Curator John Brent allowed the British Museum to keep the original in exchange for a cast and various other fossil specimens.

This building is modelled on a Shenist folk temple to nature gods and patron gods. The Chinese text on the pillars can be translated as ‘Fiction or reality, we revisit our ancestors with these figures’.

It was probably made at a workshop called Rui Yuan in Shiwan, Fo Shan City, Guangdong province, a well-known centre for ceramics production of this type. The ceramic used is known as stoneware because of its durability. Shiwan was famous for making architectural ceramics and ceramic figures during the Ming and Qing dynasties (14th to early 20th centuries).

Pagodas are tiered buildings in Asia, originally with a religious function and often sited near temples. The word ‘pagoda’ comes from the Portuguese pagode, meaning ‘temple’.

The purse has a drawstring moneybag inside the eggshell-like segments, which are held together by tassels. The child’s shoe was given to the museum with a stone inside to keep its shape. Embroidered shoes displayed on the right have a raised sole to keep the embroidered fabric above dust and dirt on the ground.

The form and decoration of these clubs is unique to people from Nootka Sound. One has a serpent-head handle unlike any other clubs so far recorded. They were collected during Captain Cook’s voyages in 1776-79.

The coconut cup would have been used for fermented drinks. It is a high status item with decorations linked to the Cook Islands.

The decorative hair comb from Tonga is made of coir fibres.

19th century; probably Mandalay, Burma Wood and gold leaf
This is one of several souvenirs brought back from Burma after British forces overthrew King Thibaw in 1885. His palace in Mandalay was ransacked and its decorations, including this panel, dismantled.

The gourd was used for burning coral to create lime, which was chewed with beetle leaves.

The junk is a traditional South-East Asian boat. Each shipyard builds junks in a slightly different way so there are many varied types. Models like this were made for international exhibition.

This is a faithful model of a house built on stilts, near water or in areas subject to flooding. The roof tiles are of finely split wood planks.

Like the Chinese junk, this model of a canoe is made with care to detail of the oars, planks and construction of the full-size equivalent.

Pearl shells for the necklace have been carefully serrated round the edges and bound with pandanus (aromatic plant) leaves, hibiscus string and dyed black fibres.

A shield carved with an integral handle on the reverse from the same piece of wood. Split cane has been added during construction for strength.

One of a pair of snowshoes used by animal trappers and made from local materials except for the cloth, which probably came from Stroud in Gloucestershire, which had trading links with Canadian trappers.

A Maori stone club and a throwing club from Fiji, both of them for use, not decoration.

People living in the South Seas have created a large range of different fishhooks, each suited to catching a particular type of fish.

These paddles and scoop date from about 1815 to 1840. They are for decoration rather than practical use and were originally made for local trade. As the South Seas opened up to visitors from the west, the decorative paddles became much sought-after collectors’ items among Europeans.

They were made on one island, Ra’ivavae, but some were traded to Taluh, another island, and acquired from there. The carvings were made with sharks’ teeth or European tools. One paddle is decorated with heads and dancing girls. The scoop has an unusual squared handle.

These long spears are particular to people living in the Torres Strait. They are richly decorated status symbols and have hollow bottoms.

A Maori weapon for fighting, decorated with a head, eyes and a tongue.

Headrests were valued, high status items. This example has inlaid decoration including a flying bird. It is probably one of the objects collected during Captain Cook’s voyages and distributed among museums in Britain.

These Jibbah or Jibbeh tunics belonged to officers in the Islamic Mahdi army. They are made from strips of hand-spun and woven cotton with appliqué of coloured woollen patches. The frugality of these garments and their clear re-use of textiles accord with the Islamic principles of humility and poverty adopted by the Mahdists. The patterned design of these tunics helped make Mahdi officers visible to their troops in battle.

The Kris is a traditional Malay knife. One or several of these may the Kris knives given to the museum after their seizure from the forces of Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, at Seringapatam, South India, in 1799.