This beautiful bracelet was made by local artisans on the island of Papua, with cowrie shells, rooster feathers and beads. On Papua shells represent prosperity and are often used during wedding ceremonies, believed to bring emotional and financial wealth. Here shells have been worn by local tribes since ancient times, to enhance the body as well as showing status and achievements. With their strong mythological importance shells were considered to be the links between the human and the spiritual world, bringing fertility and well-being. In several myths across Southeast Asia, the rooster is said to have the power to revive the dead, or to make a wish come true. It's considered sacred within the spiritual realm.