Lot 1322 , Caribbean anthropology - a Queen Conch shell hand tool, from the columella (inner spiral section) of Queen Conch (Strombus gigas), coll

Caribbean anthropology - a Queen Conch shell hand tool, from the columella (inner spiral section) of Queen Conch (Strombus gigas), collected c.1920. old collection label inscribed 'Three Houses Estate in Barbadoes. Gouge Carib, from Columella of Strobus Gigas/Donor Mr Berkeley Barbadoes..../1920', 15cm
Estimate £50-80


Provenance - T Gerrard & Co Ltd, Pentonville Road, preparators, technicians and modellers of London were involved, amongst other things, in biology, osteology and entomology.
Similar hand-held tools made from the columella (inner spiral section) of Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) shells originating from Barbados were collected by colonial administrator, Sir Henry Hesketh Bell in either 1882 or 1883, while he was working in the office of the Governor of Barbados, and form part of a larger set of hand-held tools collected by Bell which include axe-heads, scrapers and hammers. Similar conch tools, labelled as originating from Barbados, are held in the Wisbech Museum.


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Sold for £300