Tattoo Pattern

Flat piece of wood carved to leave a pattern in high relief. The block is inked and pressed onto the skin as a guide for the tattooing. Double scroll motif used, above a vertical rectangular pattern, on the front of a woman's thigh. This is a four-line version, for a woman of high class. The more lines, the higher the class, so this is for a woman of somewhat lower class than the very similar P233, which has five lines. Similar examples illustrated in Hose and Shelford are from Uma Pliau, on the Baram River.