Title
Bola with Five Weights
Mediumfossilized walrus ivory, bone, feather, twine
Dimensions29 in. (73.7 cm)
Object number00.200.200
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionFive walnut-sized ovoid weights, four made of fossilized walrus ivory, one of skeletal bone, each drilled through at one end and threaded and tied onto a twisted strand of hemp twine; on the opposite end, a fragmentary tuft of feathers, trimmed mostly to stems and lacking most of the soft matter.The bola was used in the hunt by throwing the assemblage so that it spun into a flock or group of slying birds, with the intention of striking or entangling one or more of the birds.
On View
Not on view
LATE 19th Century
late 19th Century
late 19th Century
ca. 1870-1890
1850
