Supreme Beautiful Example. Important provenance great presence & power.
In the Admiralty Islands war charms were worn at the back attached to a cord strung about the neck. Phillipe Bourgoin (Charms of the Admiralty Islands, in The World of Tribal Arts, Autumn/Winter 1998, p.91) gives a full discussion of the use of such charms and gives an English translation of the relevant chapter of Dr Hans Nevermann's Admiralitts-Inseln, 1934. According to Bourgoin such charms endowed the wearer with strength and courage during conflicts. The object was often a symbolic likeness of the first warrior killed or severely wounded by its owner. Throughout the Admiralty Islands, part of a warrior's preparation for battle included donning a war charm to increase his courage and protect him in battle. The charm was tied with a short cord to the nape of the neck so the carved head looked out behind the warrior and the feathers curved away from his back.