![[Man with kina necklace and shell nose plugs: 35k]](../../../../images/shellsa.gif "© Carolyn Leigh, 2005. All rights reserved.")
buy traditional jewelry from JungleOutpost.com and NewGuineaArt.com
Bilas (Pisin from the English word flash): finery, ornaments, jewelry, decoration, showy clothes, bilas bilong singsing - ornaments worn at a dance.
(right) Highland Big Man with kina shell necklace, green beetle and geri geri shell headband, toea shell and bone nose pieces.
Shells are Gold: Miners who came into the Highlands searching for gold discovered people who valued shells more. The gold-lipped pearl shell is cut into crescent shapes called kina. The other traditional shell currency is the toea, a circle of shell cut with bamboo. These are worn singly for nose pieces or strung to make necklaces or bracelets. Many other shells are also used.
Modern PNG paper currency is called the kina. 100 toea coins equal one kina. Shell is still used in traditional ceremonial payments. more photos
Tooth and Bone: Dog teeth, fruit bat teeth, crocodile teeth, porpoise teeth, pig's tusks and teeth are all used. During the colonial period, the Germans manufactured porcelain dog teeth and traded them. Strings of dog teeth are part of a family's wealth. Large pigs with tusks that curve back to form complete circles show wealth. The tusks are used for necklaces and nose pieces. Sometimes a deceased relative's or enemy's bones are worn to attract the ghost's spiritual power. more photos
String and Things: Necklaces, headbands and armbands are knotted from handmade string and may include seeds, trade beads, feathers and fur, grasses and ferns, croton leaves, yellow orchid vine, everlasting daisies, links of bamboo and fiber chains. more photos
buy traditional jewelry from JungleOutpost.com and from NewGuineaArt.com
Order art on-line: dealers and galleries
Wholesale information for dealers
![[New Guinea art logo]](../../../../images/logorblk.gif "© Carolyn Leigh, 2005. All rights reserved.")
http://www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/nuguinea/bilas/traditional/bilasc.htm
Contact Us
Artifacts on this site are collected in the field by my husband, Ron Perry. I take the photographs, do the html, text and maps. More background in Who We Are. Art-Pacific has been on the WWW since 1996. We hope you enjoy our New Guinea tribal art and Indonesian folk art as much as we do. Carolyn Leigh, P.O. Box 85284, Tucson, AZ 85754-5284 USA, Art-Pacific at http://www.art-pacific.com/