Bag, of plant fibre and bark, from New Caledonia, from the Forster collection (Forster 164; 1886.1.876)

A finely plaited bag with top edge bound with reddish-brown cord, which incorporates hair, probably from the fruit bat (Pteropus sp.). The plant fibre cord used to plait the bag extends from the back at each top corner to form netting handles. The resulting tube of netting is open at the top end, which is edged with the same red/brown cord as the top of the bag. The mesh forming the net measures approximately 15 mm between knots. The handles are 550 mm in length when fully extended. A piece of bark from the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) is sewn to one side of the bag. The bark appears unprocessed, as two layers are present. The bark is attached to the basket at the top and side edges with large stitches. The bottom edge is also stitched, but this is done to hold the edge of the bark in place, which has been folded under.

• Plant Fibre Identification Report.
• Museum database entry.