MUS2026-338 - museum specimen
Ambrym Womel seed-whirler pair
Vanuatu - Fanla, Ambrym - Oceania
Function not recorded
Womel
Source term: Aerophone à air ambiant
Womel: local object name recorded at Fanla.
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.
On le fait tournoyer rapidement.
It is made to whirl rapidly.
MQB 71.1936.40.51–52
- Object
- Two hard seed or cycad bodies, roughly 10–13 cm, each tied to a long fibre cord.
- Function
- Whirled rapidly on its cord; no occasion recorded.
- Source
- MQB 71.1936.40.51–52; seed or cycad bodies roughly 10–13 cm with fibre cords
- Source location
- 71.1936.40.51–52
- Source confidence
- medium Fanla village anchor on Ambrym.