Riji (engraved pearl shell) with red ochre hung from a baali (hair belt)
Datebefore 1989
Object number00006918
NamePhallocrypt
MediumPearl shell, human hair
DimensionsOverall: 9 x 700 x 132 mm, 0.35 kg
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionSome of the first people to appreciate the power and beauty of pearlshell were the coastal Aboriginal groups of the northwest Kimberley coast. Collecting the shell on the king tides, people shaped and engraved pearlshell to celebrate country and traditions. People continue to value both guwan (undecorated shell) and riji (engraved shell) in dance and ceremony, and as an important item of exchange.
HistoryThe designs carved on pearlshell link the carvers with their ancestors, their culture, their country and their stories.
The act of carving, and of wearing or holding riji, especially for the first time as an adult, is a powerful boost to an individual’s liyan. Liyan encapsulates physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, and expresses a sense of connectedness to the world.
Carved riji proved popular as collector’s items with pearlers, missionaries and many other outsiders with whom Aboriginal people came in contact
While riji continued to have a role in the early twentieth century in ceremonies relating to the passage of boys and young men to adulthood, master carvers experimented with less traditional designs.
Pearlshell carving has become a contemporary artistic tradition. Highlighted with natural ochres, the carved pearlshells of the Kimberley coastal artists, present realistic drawings that tell the story of country and of historical experiences, and are now found in ethnographic and art collections around the world.
While neighbouring people along the Kimberley and Pilbara coasts left engravings and paintings on rock outcrops and rockshelter walls, pearlshell became the ‘canvas’ for the coastal peoples of the region stretching from Eighty Mile Beach to Dampierland.
Today, Salt Water people continue to collect, clean and shape guwan (undecorated pearl shell). They incise ramu (lines forming special designs) onto the guwan, sometimes also rubbing ochre into the designs. Guwan, when carved, becomes riji. Smaller carved blades of shell, binji binji, are worn as headpieces, or as shell clusters on hairbelts. All these valued shells are worn by men.
The power of riji, represented by the brilliance and shimmer of its mother of pearl (also known as nacre), is considered a manifestation of water, and therefore of life. Their designs carry gender-restricted esoteric meanings, and in context become powerful objects.
Used by maban (powerful spiritual men), riji have the power to bring the rain, determine who is guilty of a crime, attract women, or help heal the sick. They are given to boys in ceremonies to mark their transition to adulthood, and families are very proud when the young men first appear wearing their shell.
Detail from Lustre Exhibition onlineSignificanceThe power of riji, represented by the brilliance and shimmer of its mother of pearl (also known as nacre), is considered a manifestation of water, and therefore of life. Their designs carry gender-restricted esoteric meanings, and in context become powerful objects. Used by maban (powerful spiritual men), riji have the power to bring the rain, determine who is guilty of a crime, attract women, or help heal the sick. They are given to boys in ceremonies to mark their transition to adulthood, and families are very proud when the young men first appear wearing their shell.
1891-1904
