{"id":"MUS2026-338","label":"Ambrym Womel seed-whirler pair","people_or_site":"People unrecorded; Fanla village","country_current":"Vanuatu","historic_region":"Fanla, Ambrym","macroregion":"Oceania / Vanuatu","local_name":"Womel","source_term":"Aerophone à air ambiant","source_language":"French","object_description":"Two hard seed or cycad bodies, roughly 10–13 cm, each tied to a long fibre cord.","function_summary":"Whirled rapidly on its cord.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"mqb_71_1936_40_51_52","source_type":"museum_collection","source_url":"https://collections.quaibranly.fr/?action=search&field=/Record/ObjectNumber&label=N%C2%B0%20de%20gestion&value=71.1936.40.51","page_or_plate":"71.1936.40.51–52","map_confidence":"medium","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Fanla village anchor on Ambrym. GeoNames populated place 2137036. GeoNames: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"No blade at all: the Womel is a hard seed on a long fibre cord, whirled fast enough that the air around it hums. The pair is recorded from Fanla in north Ambrym and reached Paris out of a 1935–36 collecting run through the northern New Hebrides whose method was simple — the collector announced at each landing that he was buying, islanders decided what to bring him, and the price was settled in Australian shillings.","pull_quote":"On le fait tournoyer rapidement.","pull_quote_translation":"It is made to whirl rapidly.","pull_quote_cite":"MQB 71.1936.40.51–52","term_gloss":"Womel: local object name recorded at Fanla.","cls":"unknown","class_label":"Function not recorded","color":"#6B7884","is_candidate":false,"flags":[],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"MQB 71.1936.40.51–52; seed or cycad bodies roughly 10–13 cm with fibre cords","url":"https://collections.quaibranly.fr/?action=search&field=/Record/ObjectNumber&label=N%C2%B0%20de%20gestion&value=71.1936.40.51","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261013034814/https://collections.quaibranly.fr/?action=search&field=/Record/ObjectNumber&label=N%C2%B0%20de%20gestion&value=71.1936.40.51"}],"source_citations":"MQB 71.1936.40.51–52; seed or cycad bodies roughly 10–13 cm with fibre cords","source_display":"MQB 71.1936.40.51–52; seed or cycad bodies roughly 10–13 cm with fibre cords","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Two hard seed or cycad bodies, roughly 10–13 cm, each tied to a long fibre cord.","function_display":"Whirled rapidly on its cord.","confidence_display":"medium","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"","display_name":"Ambrym Womel seed-whirler pair","image":{"full":"assets/objects/mqb/mqb_71-1936-40-51.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/mqb/thumbs/mqb_71-1936-40-51_thumb.jpg","alt":"A dark rounded Womel seed-whirler with a drilled hole, attached to a long tangle of plaited fibre cord.","credit":"© musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (71.1936.40.51 / 71.1936.40.52)","license":"© musée du quai Branly — rehosted for non-commercial research","source_page":"https://collections.quaibranly.fr/?action=search&field=/Record/ObjectNumber&label=N%C2%B0%20de%20gestion&value=71.1936.40.51","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"One Womel seed-whirler, drilled and strung on plaited fibre (MQB 71.1936.40.51).","last_modified":"2026-09-01","additional":[{"full":"assets/objects/mqb/mqb_71-1936-40-52.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/mqb/thumbs/mqb_71-1936-40-52_thumb.jpg","alt":"An ovoid brown seed pierced by a large opening, with a long twisted fibre cord threaded through it and tangled above.","credit":"© musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac","license":"© musée du quai Branly — rehosted for non-commercial research","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Its mate 71.1936.40.52, the cord threaded through the seed's eye."}]},"slug":"mus2026-338-people-unrecorded-fanla-village"}