Sternum piercing, Vanuatu (New Hebrides),... - Lot 152 - Eve

Lot 152
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Estimation :
200 - 400 EUR
Result : NC
Sternum piercing, Vanuatu (New Hebrides),... - Lot 152 - Eve
Sternum piercing, Vanuatu (New Hebrides), Melanesia Wood with dark patina - Length : 101 cm Simple model with a blunt tip Provenance : Jean André Henry Birolleau (1859 - 1916), principal physician of the Colonial Health Service - Rochefort sur Mer, present in New Caledonia from 1887 to 1898. Jean André Henry Edgar BIROLLEAU (1859 - 1916) was a senior physician in the Colonial Medical Corps. He took part in numerous campaigns, including Marenge from November 1882 to August 1883, then in Senegal on the Salamendre from April 1883 to January 1886. This was followed by three expeditions to New Caledonia from 1887 to 1898, eleven years in all. The year 1898 marked the end of the transportation to New Caledonia while the penal colony of Guyana continued to function. As a military doctor, he treated officers, non-commissioned officers, gabiers and mechanics for diseases contracted during the voyage, including tuberculosis. When he arrived at his destination, he took care of his co-religionists as well as the indigenous Canaques and fought against the scourge of the moment, leprosy, and undoubtedly received as a gift of gratitude this monstrance axe and the few spears that we are presenting. The return journey passed through the New Hebrides where the ship loaded goods including sandalwood. From this anchorage, he received or bought headbreakers, axes and sternum drills, which are presented today at the auction. Thereafter, he continued his career as a senior physician in French Guiana and ended it in Madagascar in 1903. He was made a knight of the Legion of Honor in 1901 and an officer in 1913. We will give to the purchasers of these objects the few archives in our possession collected from the family.
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