Edgar Waite's 'North-west Pacific' Expedition Collection

Collection of ethnographic material assembled by Edgar Waite in 1918, then Director of the South Australian Museum, mainly in New Ireland. He also purchased whole collections from various people living in Samarai (Papua), Rabaul (New Britain), New Ireland and the Tabar Islands. 1040 objects, 556 collected by Waite and 484 purchased from other collectors who had objects from as far afield as Manus, the Sepik and Ramu Rivers, and Bougainville. Most significant component is the malangan funerary carvings and masks from New Ireland/Tabar Islands; only the New Ireland collections in Berlin, Chicago, Sydney and Cologne are larger and more representative. Includes Waite's Field Diary (which has been transcribed) and 275 nitrate negatives/prints which have been scanned and indexed.