Solomon Island Barava

A beautiful example of an ancient, traditional Solomon Islands "BARAVA" Clam Shell Plaque.

This very rare, highly intricate "Barava" with geometrical design above two joining circle rings, is an ancient, cultural traditional form of what today we would classify as a,  "binding, legal  land contract document", and are considered sought after collectors items. Baravas were also a statement of village wealth, ownership, village identity and highly respected as sacred. Thus they they were kept in the safety of the, Initiated men's  - "Sacred,  Men's House" - the "Tambu (Forbidden House) House",  within the village. Baravas were carved out from semi fossilized, giant clam shell, (the Tridacna Gigas Clam shell),  and this ancient tradition has only been found in the Western region of the Solomon Islands. This form of ancient artwork skill has been lost for over a hundred plus years thereby adding to the scarcity and high value.

Back, over a hundred years ago and beyond, every village and Clan  in Western Province would have their own Barava, and some villages today still have their Baravas in their villages. The prime functions of these precious items were to demonstrate tribal wealth plus identity, and most importantly,  tribal ownership of their land.  To the village, or Clan, their Barava represented a proud statement of village wealth and were  respected as a sacred objects. They were kept in the safety of the men's  - "Sacred,  Men's House" - the "Tambu (Forbidden House) House",  within the village or another other safe , secret hiding location.  Baravas were never traded or used as a form of currency. If the Barava was stolen as a trophy during raids or during head hunting attacks, the land they represented was never transferable and the village land still remained belonging to the original village.

Baravas were created from semi fossilized, giant clam shell, (the Tridacna Gigas Clam shell),  and this ancient tradition has only been found in the Western region of the Solomon Islands. The ancient fretwork art skill has been lost over many generations now, and none have been made for well over 100 years thus adding to the scarcity and great value of such a deeply meaningful and artistic object. *See below how they were created later.

This  intensely detailed, large Barava  has survived so many years of history, and is amazingly,  virtually complete apart from the heads from the top row of figures.  The old patina of this semi fossilised shell base typically  reflects its great age. The slight yellowish colouration throughout the veins of the clamshell used for this Barava states it is of the most valuable quality, as this colouration or pigmentation is only found from one remote and secret,  high quarry up on Mt. Kela ( 2283 feet) on the remote Western Province island of Ranongga and the quality is highly revered. From all those years ago, until now, the location of this one quarry has been kept a tightly guarded secret and has only passed on from generation to the generation by extremely limited, select few people. This Barava consists of three rows of eight anthromorphic figures . At the top is a line of eight figures, each holding hands with the next, however due to its age and time damage the heads have become broken off from the shoulders . A line under this top row separates the first and second rows which are very similar, both with eight figures.  A traditional  geometric, cultural design separates the second line of figures from the third line, the eight figures of the third line are slightly different as focussing on the heads with protruded ear lobes and are linked together through outstretched, (rather then curved), straight arms to each other. Cultural design triangular, geometric shapes adorn and join the fretwork art, with the triangle shapes traditionally representing the artistic shape of the original clam shell along with other traditional symbols. At the base are two large circles which represent unity between the two clans within the village. Note; A village can hold one or more different  clans with in it depending on the size of the village.

HOW BARAVAS WERE MADE. The making of a Barava, especially such an intricately detailed one like this example was a incredibly lengthy process taking many years (minimum five and more years), due to working on the semi fossilised clamshell material, without any modern day tools to assist. After firstly carving out a flat slab base out from the giant clamshell, the artisans used hand made drills from local materials.

Reference - Abstract titled Barava ; Land of Title Deeds in Fossil Shell Western Solomon Islands, by - Rhys Richards & Kenneth Roga - Cultural Affairs Officer in Gizo, Solomon Islands .Publication -Tuhinga. Records Museum of New Zealand Te Papa . Issue 15 2004. In which was stated that the researchers Richards and Roga in 2002 spoke directly with Chief Lezin Betekera of Ombombulu, and were informed by the Chief in 2002 that no one alive today has witnessed the traditional making of these sacred plaques. The information had been passed on purely by mouth since before his grandfather had been born. He told that the art skill had died since those many generations ago. When he was a child he was told that small holes in the clamshell were drilled with simple hand made drills (called Pisu Mongo in their native language) . These simple drills were made from local timber and fitted with a bow which was then operated by rubbing both hands together around the drill stick which was connected to part of an arial root from a bush creeping plant called "Asama" in local language. This part of an aerial root was coated in wet sand to create friction thus resulting in the cutting of the shell. Abrasive sharks skin strips,  with a finely abrasive surface, were used for smoothing the rough surfaces after the cutting of the shapes. Chief Lezin Betekara in 2002,  told the two researchers that his grandfather had told him that the carving of a Barava was a very tedious task which took a similar time as it takes for a coconut to grow from a pod into a fruit bearing tree ( by today's cultivated coconut trees that time would be 5 years plus).

Height 25 cm / 10 in  Width 24 cm / 9.5 in Thickness 1.5 cm / 0.5 in