eBAY Find – May 2010 UK - maireener shells

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SOLD: 4Bids Winning bid: £170.00 Approx AU $298.14

Clearly this necklace has been dyed and in most other respects bears the hallmarks of a commercially produced 'Hobart Necklace'. The presence of a clasp reinforces this but it is hard to tell from the photographs if this thread is still dyed as it seem s that these necklaces were dyed after stringing. Almost all the circumstantial evidence points to this necklace being a Hobart Necklace and it being quite unlikely for it to have had a Tasmanian Aboriginal maker as is suggested here.

Typically all these necklaces were assumed to be "Tasmanian Aboriginal Shell Necklaces" but now the evidence suggests that where there is no provenance to verify Aboriginal authenticity it is unsafe to assume Aboriginal authenticity albeit that it is made from Tasmanian maireener shells.