Breastplate from a mourner′s costume, of wood, shell, and feathers, from the Society Islands; part of the Forster collection (part of Forster 1?; 1886.1.1637.2.2)

Part of a Mourner's Dress. Crescent-shaped wooden breast-plate painted black on the front and natural brown wood on the back. At either end there is a large mother of pearl shell with fringes of plaited fibre and dark feathers hanging from the ends of the breast-plate. There are four mother-of-pearl shells in total, spread equidistantly and secured to the breast-plate by fibre sewn through perforations in the shells and wood. One of the shells is broken, having both local and modern repairs

• Museum database entry.