Conus Shell

Description:

This ornament is made from the base of a conus shell. Highly prized conus shells were used in jewellery and headdresses in Central and Eastern Africa. During the Trans-Africa Expedition, David Livingstone was presented with a string of beads with a conus shell at the bottom by Shinte, chief of the Balonda people as proof of their friendship. David described the shell as 'of as great value as the Lord Mayor's badge in London...My men informed me that these shells are so highly valued in this quarter...that for two of them a slave might be bought’ (David Livingstone, Missionary Travels p.g 287-8).