Bottle gourd oil container stoppered with a wad of news paper and pierced for the attachment of a suspension loop of root filament. The saturated and crystal caked gourd contains the remnants of its contents of tree oil and originated in the southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea before being traded in to the Southern Highlands for ceremonial use by the Mendi. Oil gourds like this were used throughout the New Guinea Highlands to decorate the body for ceremonial purposes.
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