1994, Ulster Museum, pbk
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- Realms of the Pacific [top]
Written by Winifred Glover
First published in 1994 in Great Britain by the Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast, BT9 5AB, in paperback, 74pp, ISBN 0900761296
Foreword by Brian Walker
About this book/synopsis: Associated with this publication are the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, which was founded in 1821 and founded its own museum in College Square North. From the very beginnings of this society, members would contribute interesting objects to its collections and this is how the Pacific material came to be in Belfast - it was contributed by one of their members, the much-travelled Gordon Augustus Thomson, who played a part in collecting the best of the Pacific material in the ethnographic collection of the Ulster Museum today. These items were regarded as curiosities in the 19th Century, but because they illustrate the history and lifestyle of the Pacific islanders, they have become objects of serious study in more recent times. For ethnographers, anthropologists and environmentalists, they are evidence of the ingenious and frugal use of natural materials, some of which are now under threat. This catalogue by Winifred Glover shows many items hitherto unpublished and is a fascinating record both of the items themselves and also of the part played by members of the Society in bringing them to Belfast
Contents:
Foreword
1. Realms of the Pacific
2. The Islands of Polynesia and their discovery
3. The Islands of Melanesia and their discovery
4. The Islands of Micronesia and their discovery
5. Warfare: Catalogue and Plates
6. Music and Dance: Catalogue and Plates
7. Food and Drink in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia: Catalogue and Plates
8. Clothing and Ornament: Catalogue and Plates
9. Customs and Beliefs in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia: Catalogue and Plates
10. Mana and the Tapu Laws
11. Chiefs and Royal Houses
12. Map
13. Contact and Trade
14. Navigation and Seafaring
15. The Islands Now
Acknowledgements; Bibliography
Catalogue of Ethnographic Items in the Exhibition at the Museum of Ulster [as of 1994]:
(All black & white, unless otherwise indicated)
Cover: Moai kavakava figure, Easter Island, drawn by Deirdre Crane
Realms of the Pacific
p2. Left. B&W photo. Gordon Augustus Thomson (1799-1886), Honorary member of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society 1840 and principal donor of the ethnographic objects. He travelled throughout the Pacific Islands from 1836-1840
p2. Right. B&W photo. George C. Hyndman (1796-1867), founding member of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and President from 1858-1860
Warfare
1. Club, 70cm long, source: Probably Malaita, Solomon Islands, c.12.1981
2. Hardwood club, 140cm long. Source: Marquesas Islands, Grainger Collection, c.1193
3. Club, 78cm long with fish-tail shaped head, source, Vanuatu? C.1910.773
4. Club, 98cm long with central rib. Source: Ambrym Island, Vanuatu. C.3.1979
5. Club, 102cm long. Source: Prob. Pentecos Island, Vanuatu, Grainger Coll, C.3259
6. Club, 124cm long with cylindrical shaft. Source: New Guinea, Grainger Coll, C.1181
7. Spear, 274cm long, with multiple bone points. Source Vanuatu. C.50.1905
8. Colour plate. Fighting mouthpiece, 22cm long. Used to give New Guinea warriors a more ferocious aspect. This example was made from wood, boars' tusks, gum and red berries. Source: Cloudy Bay, New Guinea (Cloudy Bay is actually in NZ). Grainger Collection, C.1259
9. Club, 104cm long. Wooden Shaft, flanged butt. New Britain, Grainger Collection, C.1183
10. Spear, 246.5cm long. Multiple bone point head. Donated by Misses Mayne. C. P.470.1919
11. Knife/Dagger 36cm long. Wooden, 15 pairs of bicuspid shark teeth bound with coir onto pierced blade. Source: Gilbert Island, Grainger Collection. C.1198
12. Tool or Weapon, 37cm long, shark tooth. Source:
Gilbert Island, Grainger Collection. C.1196
13. Sword, 108.5cm long. Source: Gilbert Island? Thomson Collection: C.1910.732
14. Sword, 104cm long. Flat palm wood, bicuspid shark's teeth. Source: Gilbert Island. C.5090
15. Throwing Club, 44.5cm long, fluted wooden head. Source: Fiji. C.167.1929
16. Club 61cm long. Light coloured wooden club with flattened expanded head. Both sides are elaborately chip-carved in different patterns. Source: Samoa. C.46.1905
17. Spear, 158cm long. Light bamboo shaft. Source: Admiralty Islands. C.216.1941(a)
18. Spear, 143cm long. Light bamboo shaft. Source: Admiralty Islands. C.216.1941(b)
19. Club, 79cm long. Ironwood pole club. Source: 'Friendly Islands' Tonga. C.1910.554
20. Club 114cm long. 'Gunstock' club (looks like rifle stock). Source: Fiji. Thomson Collection. 1843. C.1910.630
21. Club, 44cm long. Whalebone hand club (patu paraoa). Source: NZ. C.1910.560
22. Club, 203cm long. Wooden staff club (taiaha) with cylindrical shaft flattened at one end while the other is covered with a face mask with protruding tongue, the usual Maori gesture of defiance. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1856. Source: NZ. C.1911.3
23. No illustration. Club 160cm long. Staff club (tewhatewha) used by the Maori warrior in hand-to-hand combat. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1856. Source: NZ. C.1910.636
24. Club 128cm long. Paddle club with narrow leaf-shaped blade. Source: Possibly Tongan Islands. C.6.1981
25. Club, 160cm long. Wooden staff club (pouwhenua) with flattened blade and pointed top intended to represent the protruding tongue from the face mask carved 3/4 of the way down the shaft. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1856. Source: NZ. C.1910.635
26. No illustration. Spear, 227cm long. Very long red wood spear. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1856. Source: possibly Niue, a small coral island 300 miles from the Tongan group. C.1910.64
27. Club, 83cm long made from half a Cook Islands ironwood pole club. Source: Morrow Collection. C.636.1937
28. Club, 95cm long. Wooden, tubular shaft. Source: Papua New Guinea. C.3.1977
29. No illustration. Hand Club, 38cm long (patu pounamu) of close-grained greywacke of spatulate form. Source: NZ, Grainger Collection, C.1194
30. No illustration. Bow, 180cm long. Wooden bow stave of D-section with shaped nocks and bow string of bamboo. Source: New Guinea Highlands. C.25.1984a
31. No illustration. Bow, 213cm long. Wooden bow stave of D-section and bow string of wrapped fibre. Source: Melanesia. Grainger Collection, C.3363
32. Arrow, 137.5cm+. Arrow with bamboo shaft and hardwood head with one barb. The lower part of the head is carved with a human face with white lime infill. Source: Thursday Island, Torres Straits. Webster Collection. C.5091
33. No illustration. Arrows, 76cm - 94.5cm long. Twenty seven arrows with bamboo shafts and painted hardwood tips with some decoration. Source: Melanesia, possibly Vanuatu. Grainger Collection. 1900. C.3368
34. No illustration. Arrow 62cm+ long. Head of arrow with seven bone barbs bound onto a hardwood shaft. Source: Melanesia, probably Solomon Islands. C.65.1905
p12. Left, top. Black and white photograph of a Santa Cruz war canoe from the Annesley Archives, c.1895, Proni
p12. Left, bottom. B&W photograph of a Samoan War Canoe crew from the Annesley Archives, c.1895, Proni
p12. Right. B&W photograph of a war dance at Suva, Vita Levu, Fiji, from the Annesley Archives, c.1895, Proni
Music and Dance
35. Slit Drum, 175cm high, b&w photograph, showing a figure with a ventral slit with sturdy legs and thin arms carved free of the body. It also shows a man called Robinson standing alongside the drum in 1929 when it was photographed by a member of the Crane Pacific Expedition from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Sidney Shurcliff. Robinson may have been the owner at that time. The drum was given to the Musum of Ulster by a sister of the collector T. R. Ff Sailsbury in 1932, along with unspecified South Sea specimens. It is a unique type
from Vanuatu. There is an additional photograph (b&w) showing a whole group of slit drums from Vanuatu on the same page, sourced from the Annesley Archives, c. 1895. Proni.
36. Panpipes, various lengths. Source: Vanuatu. C.1.1980
37. Drum, 36cm high - waisted wooden drum with reptile-skin head. Source: Woitape Village, Papua New Guinea. Donated by H. K. Johnson. C.1.1975
38. Drum 52.5cm high. Source: Papua New Guinea, C.5092
39. No illustration. Nose Flute, 60cm high. Source: Fiji. C.45.1910
40. No illustration. Nose Flute, small gourd nose flute with burnt triangular decoration and the name 'Kinau' written on it
41. Dance club, 79cm high. Decoration typical of the Massim area. C.5093
42. Dance club, 108cm long. Boat-shaped dance club. Source: possibly from the Massim area. C.451.1915
43. No illustration. Dance ornament, 22cm long. Made from two boars' tusks bound with string to form the figure 8. Source: Uruna village, Papua New Guinea
44. Kilt, 63cm long, 8cm width of waistband. The kilt is made from strips of phormium leaf (dried, dyed and curled into rolls) and the woven waistband has a pattern of triangular and running chevron design. Overall the design is cream and black. The black comes from steeping the fibres in dye made from hinau bark. Source: New Zealand, C.7.1983
45. No illustration. Poi balls. Flax leaf balls strung on plaited string. Source: North Island, NZ. C.583.1930
46. Leg Rattle, 21cm by 26cm. Trapezoidal shape, dogs teeth attached to a woven alona fibre cord backing. Male hula dancers wore these tied to the leg just below the knee. Source: Hawaii, Thomson Collection. 1843. C.1910.363
47. Dance Paddle, 74cm long, called a paki. Used by male Tongan dancers. Source: Grainger Collection, C.1176
48. Shell trumpet, 37cm long. Charonia shell with hole bored near apex. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1859. C.1911.1432
49. Shell trumpet. Charonia shell with hole bored near the apex. It's almost identical to the Hyndman donation, except it has no information pertaining to it
Food and Drink in Polynesia
p19. Black and white illustration showing two Polynesians luring two birds to put their heads into two nooses suspended in front of them
Food and Drink
50.
Sago Pounder 50cm long. Blackened wood sago pounder from the Sepik area of New Guinea. C.595.1935
51. Food Bowl, 46.5cm long; 11.5cm high. A bowl of blackened wood with pearl shell inlay in the form of a frigate bird resting on an elliptical base. The frigate bird was thought of by islanders to be the incarnation of a dead ancestor and is a recurring motif in decoration. Source: New Georgia, Solomon Islands. C.112.1952
52. Food Bowl, 166cm long, 42cm high. Giant food bowl of blackened wood with pearl shell and bone inlay resting on a small elliptical base. Two little pearl shell buttons have been used for the eyes of the bonito fish which decorate the front of the bowl. Half circles of bone are inlaid all round the lower rim. The bonito fish was
a very important fish for the Solomon islanders and the first bonito was considered sacred. Source: Possibly San Cristobal, Solomon Islands where the finest wooden food bowls are found. C.113.1952
53. Food Bowl, 44.5cm long, 14.6cm high. Pearl shell inlay (as evident on this bowl) is characteristic of Manihiki, one of the Cook Islands. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1859. C.1910.72
54. Food Bowl, 70cm long; 13cm high. Source: Probably Admiralty Island. C.5095
55. Wooden Dish, 31cm long. Elongated shallow dish. Source: Hawaii, Thomson Collection. C.1910.75
56. Lime Container, 28.5m long (length of gourd). Pale brown with decorations burned into the surface. The stopper is made of carved wood decorated with red parrot feathers. Source: Trobriand Islands. C.16.1975
57. Lime Spatulas 23, 24, 30cm long. Decorated wooden spaturlas were used to lift the lime out of the container to chew with the betel mixture. Source: Massim area of Southwest New Guinea (from decoration). Grainer Collection. C.1260 (a), (c), (d)
58. Lime Spatula, 24.5cm long. Decorated wooden spatula with decoration in the form of a stylised animal. Incised decoration filled with white lime. Source: probably Massim area of New Guinea. C.1260 (b)
59.
Lime Spatula, 25cm long. Wooden lime spatula with finial in the form of a fish. Source: likely the Massim area. C.150.1927(a)
60. Gourd container, 43cm high. Lidded gourd with globular body narrowing at the top and encased in twined split root (probably Freycinetia arborea). Colours: black, brown and cream. Used for food, water or fishing line storage. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection. C.1911.72
61. No illustration. Bowl, 23cm diameter. Made from half a large gourd. A split in it has been mended with zigzag stitching with coir cord. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection. C.1910:78
62. Bowl, 18cm high. Wooden bowl with S-curve profile and rim with three concave curves. Would have been used for holding poi, and were highly prized. This example has been carefully mended twice.
Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection. C.1910.77
63. Kava Dish, 73cm diameter. Kava was prepared frm the root of the piper methysticum by women and was mildly intoxicating being served at feasts and other ceremonial occasions in special wooden dishes. This large example is supported on four legs and comes from Fiji. C.1910.70
64. Kava Dish, small. Has four legs and suspension lug. Source: Fiji. Thomson Collection. C.1910.70
65. Coconut Cup, 14.5cm long. It is said by Edge Partington to have been used by Kahuna Priests for drinking Kava. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection. C.1910.88
66. Bag, 20cm by 17cm. Made from woven flax with diamond pattern. Source: New Zealand. C.1261
67. Food Pounder, 20cm high. Heavy stone pestle with curved base. For grinding root to make poi. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection. C.1910.766
68. Spoon. 12.5cm long. Carved spoon made from a piece of coconut shell. Source: New Guinea. C.156.1925
69. Pig Killer, 44.5cm long. Pigs were an important food source in Melanesia and were used as sacrificial victims and were an indicator of wealth. Source: Vanuatu. C.31.1981
70. Fire Tongs 50cm long, made from a piece of bent bamboo. Source: Woltape Village, Papua New Guinea (PNG). C.10.1975
71. No illustration. Food-Gathering Bag, 43cm by 29cm. A food-gathering bag of knotted string with a single carrying strap, most likely used by a woman gathering and transporting crops and foodstuffs. Source: Woitape Village, Papua New Guinea. C.9.1975
72. Food-Gathering Bag, 61cm by 46cm. An older style of bag, in brown and black colours. Source: Papua New Guinea (?). C.158.1927
73. No illustration. Pot, 21cm high, 5cm neck diameter.
Incised line decoration and covered with pine-tree resin. Source: Fiji. C.108.1952
74. Adze, 41cm long. Triangular section polished stone blade. Source: Probably Melanesia. C.5096
75. Adze, 31cm long. Black stone adze of D-section. Source: Fiji, Grainger Collection. C.1192
76. Shark Hook, 22cm long. Composite wooden hook with single incurved hook, made from a curved branch. Fibre snood and lashing. Source: Society Islands (?). C.62.1905
77. Fish Hook, 5.4cm long. Hook carved from thin plate of tortoiseshell. Source: Micronesia. C.1911.1025
78. Bait Hook, 9.5cm long. Wooden shank lined with pearl shell with bone hook with one inwared bard tied on with coir. Donated by G. C. Hyndman. Source: Penrhyn Island (Tongareva), in the Manhiki Group. C.1911.1382
79. Bait Hook, 29cm long; 116cm with coir line attached. Large wooden hook with v-shaped shank.
Source: Penrhyn Island, Manahiki Group. Donated by G. C. Hyndman. C.1911.1020
80. Bait Hook, 13.5cm long. Wooden hook with v-shaped shank. Source: Micronesia. C.63.1905
81. No illustration. Lure Hook, 10cm long. Composite hook of pearl shell shank with bone bard and lashing of twisted cord. Source: Society Islands. C.64.1905b
82. No illustration. Bonito Hook, 12.5cm long, 6.5cm length of barb. Large hook with pearl oyster shell shank and curved bone hook lashed to the end and line attached. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection. C.1911.1022c
83. Hook, 5.2cm long. Whale ivory hook of sub-circular form with one low external barb. Line and binding of coir
84. Bonito Hooks, 7.5cm long; 6cm long; 5.2cm long. Three pearl shell hooks with tortoiseshell barbs and hackles of small coloured beads with tiny wool tufts at the end. Source: Solomon Islands. C.473.1924
85.
Model Food Store, 86cm high - a finely carved specimen with paua shell inlay acquired from a sale of the Ranfully Collection on Tuesday 13th June, 1922 at Montgomery and Son's Auction House. The Earl of Ranfully had been the Governor General of Auckland in 1904. Marcus McLean bought the piece and donated it to the Ulster Museum in 1929. It was described as the model of a Maori house (pataka) in kauri wood and dressed flax. The tiki on the gable was described as representing Turi, Head Chief of the Aotea Canoe which arrived in North Island five centuries ago [prior to the auction in 1922]. The other figures are said to represent his descendants to Te Rauparaha who died in Otaki 1849. C.194.1949
86. Lime Spatula, 36cm long. Blackened round wooden spatula. Source: Solomon Islands. C.705.1924
87. Lime Spatula, 61cm long. Blackened round wooden spatula with pentagonal handle. Source: Solomon Islands. C.439.1930
Clothing and Ornament
p29. Black and white photograph showing Maori women weaving flax at Rotorua, New Zealand, 4335.
88. Headdress, 31cm diameter, made of reddish-brown jungle fowl feathers and coir, worn by men in the manner of a sunshade. Source: Marquesas Islands. C1910.294
89. Hair Combs, 31.8cm long, 33.5cm long. Two hair combs for ornamenting the hair with 12 and 16 teeth of wood slivers. Cut and polished pieces of pearl, conus or nautilus shell have been inlaid in putty nut (parinarium nut) resin, which is pink when soft and dries to a hard black finish. Source: Eastern Solomon Islands. C.98.1952
90. No illustration. Hair Comb 22.5cm long. Carved wooden comb for men. The decoration is in the form of a schematic face with black round the eyes and the
remaining carving inlaid with white lime. Source: Papua New Guinea. C.154.1927
91. Head Rest, 43cm long. Wooden head rest painted with earth pigments and white with burnt lime. Used by men of the Huon Gulf region of New Guinea. C.598.1935
92. No illustration. Nose Bone, 16.5cm long. Bird bone nose ornament worn by men of Uruna Village. Source: Papua New Guinea. C.13.1975
93. No illustration. Neckrests 33cm long; and 28cm long. Polished wooden neckrests with curved legs and bar. They were used to protect the fine coiffure of Tongan men when at rest. Source: Tonga. Thomson Collection. 1843. C.1911.1425a and b
94. No illustration. Armlet 7cm width. Armlet of tortoiseshell roughly incised with scroll border filled with white lime. Source: New Guinea. Nevin Catalogue No.75. C.276.1920
95. Necklace 55cm long. Necklace made from a vine bound with string and red cloth with fifty three canine teeth of young dog attached to it. Source: Woitape Village, Papua New Guinea. C.8.1975
96. Hook Necklaces both pendants, 10cm long. Sperm whale ivory hook pendant through which are threaded multiple strands of 8-ply plaited human hair. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.311a and b
97. No illustration. Headdress, composed of brown, orange, green, red and yellow feathers of parrots. Worn by men in Omboli, Papua New Guinea. C.14.1975
98. No illustration. Comb, 16.2cm long, from East Kwaio, Malaita, Solomon Islands, made in 1987 by Arimae of Furii'au who learned to make the combs in the traditional manner (information sourced to David Akin). The combs are called faa and are made and worn purely as decoration in the hair above the ear, protruding above the eye and sometimes holding magical objects protecting the wearer from sorcery. Materials used are black core wood of tree ferms (Cyathea Lunulata), yellow orchid vine (Gleichnia) and the skin of the coconut palm dyed red by boiling it in root scrapings from the Indian Mulberry Tree (Morinda Citrifolia). C.21.1988
99. Armlets 1.2cm; 1.6cm; 3.8cm widths. Armlets made from plaited vegetable fibre. Source: Solomon Islands. C.701.1924
100. Headdress 40cm long, of Cassowary feathers from the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea
101. No illustration. Armlet of 8cm diameter of woven bamboo strips worn by both men and women. Source: Possibly the Torres Strait (similar to that in Figure 55, which is from there). Grainger Collection. C.1330
102. Necklace, 416cm long. Long necklace of very small white shell discs attached flat to a coir chord. It was originally recorded as coming from Fiji, but it is thought that it may in fact have come from the Marshall Islands (the British Museum has an example illustrated by Edge-Partington). C.1911.23
103. No illustration. Tapa Printing Sticks, 26cm; 32cm; 39cm long. Three palm wood sticks (chekopatapata); two of them with carved decoration at one end for printing patterns on tapa cloth. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1911.1112
104.
Three small section of the ripe fruit of the Pandanus tree which were used as brushes (hala) for decorating tapa cloth. Source: Hawaii. C.5.1982
105. Fan, 42cm high. Heart-shaped woven palm leaf fan of cream and black chequer weave. C.6.1983
106. Tapa Cloth Stencil 49cm by 22cm. Ribs of palm leaf are sewn onto a palm leaf backing. Source: Possibly Samoa. C.100.1952
107. Girdle, 71cm long. Girdle of crimped hibiscus fibre catalogued as coming from Navigator's Island (Samoa). Dr. A. Kaeppler has reevaluated it and suspects Fiji is a more likely origin. Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.286
108. No illustration. Headdress made from can covered with red cloth and topped with jungle fowl feathers. Edge Partington has illustrated one similar from Rotumah, Fiji. C.142.1927
109.
Bark Belt, 11cm wide. Flexible bark belt with incised decoration filled with white lime. The pattern may show a clan ancestor. Written on the belt is 'Karama Gulf' (which does not exist). Nevin Collection, catalogue No. 51. C.287.1920
110. Belt, 188cm long; 12cm wide. Finely woven belt of pandanus leaf in cream and reddish brown pattern from the Caroline Islands, Micronesia. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1838. C.1910.235
111. Belt, 162.5cm long; 9cm wide; 5cm fringe at either end. Finely woven belt of pandanus leaf in cream and reddish brown pattern from the Caroline Islands, Micronesia. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1838. C.1910.234
112. No illustrations. Necklaces 11cm length of teeth. Two necklaces each containing twelve cachalot whale teeth. Worn by men of high rank in Fiji.
Grainger Collection C.1525a and b
113. Ear Ornaments, 10.2cm long; 9.6cm long. Two pieces of bamboo with fine incised decoration from Fiji. C.10.1908(a) and (b)
114. Ear Ornaments, 5.5cm long, worn by Marquesas Islands women and made from a bone shank which has three decorative figures. It fits into a conus shell cap lined with pith. C.1910.309b
115. Ear Ornaments, 5.5cm long. Ivory ear ornaments carved in one piece of a type worn by Marquesas Islands men. Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.309a
116. No illustration.
Flax Cloak, 104cm by 174cm. Woven flax fibre cloak with narrow taniko border at the sides and deep border along the hem in a pattern of black and brown lozenge shapes oversewn at intervals with red wool obtained by trading. The Maori did not have looms, but did perform an elaborate hand weaving to produce their fine cloaks of flax fibre with coloured borders (taniko). Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.239
117. No illustration. Flax Cloak,
92cm by 118cm, closely woven with taniko border of large black triangles with plain interweaving triangles. Source: New Zealand. Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.290
118. No illustration. Cloak, 136cm high of woven flax fibre with black fringe round all the edges and black flax and red wool single line stitching on the borders of the neck and hem. Black tags of phormium are scattered over the surface of the cloak. These cloaks were unisex. Source: New Zealand, C.1910.223
119. Tapa
Cloth, 132cm by 53.5cm. Piece of tapa cloth with geometric decoration in black and brown from New Guinea. C.151.1927
120. Tapa Mat or Table Cloth, 134cm. Circular tapa with hand-painted design in black, brown and yellow. White and black lozenges with herringbone-filled triangle round the outside edge and a large flower motif in the centre
121. Tapa Mat or table cloth, 128cm by 150cm - highly decorated rectangular tapa in yellow, white, black and reddish brown. The central motif could be a black Maltese cross. Source: Possibly Samoa. C.8.1979
122. No illustration. Tapa Cloth, 236cm by 51cm - a roll of fine white tapa cloth with a fringe down both sides. A pattern of lozenges and leaves can be seen if held up to the light. Source: South Seas, but possibly from the Marquesas Islands. C.33.1915
123. Tapa Cloth Beater, 40cm long. A dark hardwood tapa cloth beater of square cross-section probably from Fiji. C.14.1981
124. Tapa Cloth Beater, 40cm long made from dark hardwood. Source: Probably Fiji, C.14.1981
125. Tapa Cloth Beater, 42cm long made from wood, square sectioned with rounded handle. Source: Hawaii, Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.758
126. Tapa Cloth Beaters 35cm long; 38cm long - stone tapa cloth beaters with lattice-work pattern on the side of one end, used to pulp the bark for making tapa cloth. Source: Woitape Village, Papua New Guinea. C.6.1975 and C.7.1975
Customs and Beliefs
127.
Chalk Figures, 27.4cm; 28.5 cm high; male and female figurines made from chalk deposits on the Rossel Mountains, New Ireland. Both have traces of red and yellow paint on them. C.355.1934
128. Spirit Figure, 52cm high. Carved wooden spirit figure painted with blue, white, brown and black. Source: Huon Gulf area(?), New Guinea. C.545.1914
129. Invitation Stick, 81cm long. Bamboo stick bound with tobacco leaves and red cloth. Source: Uruna Village, Papua New Guinea
130. Pendant, 38cm long - wooden pendant inset with pieces of cut and polished pearl shell, with a piece of iron pyrites covered with woven red cane at one end. The pendants are thought to have been worn round the neck hanging down the back by men who had taken a life. Source: Southern Malaita, Solomon Islands. C.705.1924
131. Coconut Cup for drinking kava used by priests. The woven coir grip kept the hands of the unworthy away from the cup. C.2.1908
132. Arm of Idol, 44cm long (no illustration) - made of bullrushes bound round with strips of tapa cloth in black, white and red. Source: Sandwich Islands
133. Tree Fern Head, 49cm long - large figures of ancestors were carved from tree fern in Vanuatu. Source: Ambrym Island, Vanuatu. C.5098
134. Prow Figure, 39cm high, probably from the Solomon Islands because it was donated to the Museum by the widow of Rear-Admiral Casement, the donor of the canoe, many years after his death. Could be from Choiseul (opinion of Dr. D. Waite of Hawaii)
135. Ceremonial Adze 73cm long (b&w photograph). It's a shaft of circular section decorated overall with double K motif and a tanged basalt blade padded with sharkskin bound into the shaft. Source: Mangaia, where these ornamental adzes symbolised Tane the god of carpentry. C.1910.609. Donated by G. C. Hyndman, 1859
136. No illustration. Ceremonial paddle 86cm long. Source: Austral
Islands. C.76.1956
137. No illustration. Cannibal Fork, 24cm long. C.459.1930
138. No illustration. Cannibal Spoon, 28cm long. C.1.1908
139. Tapa cloth figure, 47cm high, colour photo. It's a small figure made from a vegetable fibre core within a sewn casing of tapa cloth. The figure has a large head and attenuated body. Source: Easter Island. Thomson Collection. C.1910.41
140. Colour photo of wooden figure (Moai papa), 67cm high,
with flat body exhibiting female breasts and male genitalia. An old file at the museum contained a photograph of the figure with an obsidian spearhead hanging round its neck (no longer among the collection). Source: Easter Island. C.147.1927
141. Colour photo of wooden figure, 32cm high (illustrated on the cover of the book) - it's a carved wooden male skeletal figure (Moai kavakava) with bone eyes and obsidian pupils. Source: Easter Island. C.219.1907
142. Wooden figure, 45cm high - colour photo - a carved wooden male skeletal figure (Moai kavakava) with elongated ear-lobes, goatee beard, sunken cheeks, hook nose, emaciated body and eyes of bone with obsidian inlay. Source: Easter Island. C.219.1907
143. Colour photo of a wooden figure 51.5cm high - an Akua ka'ai image, Kona style with double-pointed headdress and pigtails attached to shoulders. Source: Hawaii. Thomson Collection, 1843. C.1910.39
144. Tabua, 12cm long. No illustration. It is a sperm whale's tooth pierced at each end for a suspension cord of plaited coir, presented on ceremonial occasions such as approaching a chief to request his aid. Source: Fiji? C.3.1908
145. Pearlshell Pendant 8.3cm wide - a pendant of black-lipped pearl shell carved in the form of two frigate birds (frigate birds were highly revered because they were thought to be incarnations of ancestors). Source: New Georgia region of the Western Solomons. C.460.1924
146. Pearlshell Pendant 7.5cm wide - pendant carved in the from of a single frigate bird.
Source: New Georgia region of the Western Solomons. C.59.1924
147. Money Belt, 49cm long approx. Belt composed of hundreds of small white nassa shells woven onto a string backing with strands of string at either end. Source: Kosipi, Papua New Guinea. C.15.1975
148. Armlet 7.3cm internal diam. No illustration. Armlet made from a section of conus shell ornamented with five half seeds containing one small pink shell disc strung on coir. This is the type used in the kula exchange. Source: Eastern Papua and the Trobriand Islands. 1920.C.259.1920
149. Shell Money, 56cm long, no illustration. Tekararo shell money of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands of Micronesia. Made from alternate discs of Conus and coconut shell. C.5099
150. Maori Wall Panels 131cm high, 68cm wide, both. Two fine carved panels from a Maori meeting house - showing almost identical female figures with gaping mouths and protruding tongue. Two three-fingered hands are placed on the stomach. The meeting house (Marae) was central to Maori society. From the collection of Lord Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904. C.185.1932
151. Sail Needle. 31cm long (no illustration). Said to have been made from shine bone of a fallen enemy. The custom of making objects from the bones and teeth of the vanquished foe occurs in Fiji, the Marquesas Islands and Hawaii. C.5.1908
152. Shell Money 83cm long - no illustration - two strings of very small shell discs tied together and coloured red and white and black. Source: possibly the Santa Ana and Santa Catallina islanders of the Solomon Islands. C.467.1924
153. Tattooing Implement - 19cm long, 5.5cm length of head. Tattooing implement of a tortoiseshell and serrated bone head on a bamboo shaft. Tattooing was practised throughout the Polynesian Islands by both men and women. In the Marquesas and New Zealand, men had extensive face and body tattoos. No source information. C.81.1905
154. Tattoing Implements 10cm; 9.5cm; 8.5cm lengths; 19cm; 16cm lengths. Three tattooing implements of palm wood shafts and bone heads set at right angles to the shaft. Two of the heads are serrated whilst the third has just a single point with the tip broken. Source: Tahiti. C.1911.1018
155. B&W photo. Figure, 53.2cm high - rather tubular wooden figure which has been incompletely blackened - both lower arms and feet are missing and one shell eye too. Purpose unknown. Source: Solomon Islands. C.109.1952
156. B&W photo - idols and huts at UGI Solomon Islands, c.1895
157. B&W photo of Solomon Island men and boys seated at a hut on Tuamoto, UGI, c. 1895
158. B&W photo of the temple at Ugi, Solomon Islands, c.1895. Giant food bowls can just be seen in the interior of the builidng
Chiefs and Royal Houses
159. Ear Ornament, 12cm long. Nephrite ear pendant with perforation at one end. Ear ornaments of this type were worn by Maori chiefs. Source: New Zealand. C.1911.1369
160. Club 135cm long. Very heavy parade club with round shaft and flattened blade chip-carved on both sides. Source: Fiji. C.311.1928
161. Fan, 40.5cm long - made from a finely woven pandanus leaf fan with wooden handle. Source: Marquesas Islands. 1843.C.1910.344
162. Tiki, 22cm long. Colour photo. Dark green nephrite tiki (hei tiki) with the head facing over the right shoulder and each three-fingered hand resting on the thigh
163. Tapa Cloak 245cm * 210cm - no illustration. Yellow tapa with ferns and flower decoration stamped in red round the edge and scattered over the rest. May be the item that Queen Pomare sent to G. A. Thomson on 23rd January, 1840, to remind him of her!
Source: Tahiti. C.1915.35
164. Fan, 25cm long, 51cm wide. Colour photo. Hawaiian fan of crescentic form made from tightly woven pandanus leaf. C.1910.346
165. Feather neck ornament, 57cm long. No illustration. Yellow feather neck ornament with ties of red braid. Source: Hawaii. C.1910.192b
166. Feather Cloak, 106cm long from neck to middle of hem. Colour photo. This is a cloak of red and yellow feathers tied to a woven olona fibre backing. It belonged to King Kamehameha III (1825-1854) and was purchased by G. A. Thomson in July 1839 to help the Hawaiians pay off a debt to the French who were demanding reparation for the rejection and persecution of a French Catholic Mission. C.1910.186
167. Feather Bunches. No illustration. Four small bunches of
red and yellow feathers prepared for tying to the olona fibre backing to make a feather cloak. They were sent by King Kamehamaha III to G. A. Thomson on 12 September 1839 with a letter. C.1918.141
168. Gaming Disc, 6.5cm diameter - no illustration. Smooth circular reddish stone with convex middle ('ulumaika'). It was used in a pitching game. Source: Hawaii. C.111.1917
169. Scrap Bowl, 14cm diameter, no illustration. Wooden scrap bowl with flat base, sharp rim and remains of a suspension lug or handle. Scrap bowls were used by chiefs and guarded by a trusted servant. Uneaten contents were disposed of so that no evil sorcerer could obtain any remnants of any chief's meals and work spells with them. C.1910.85
170. Tapa Cloak. 160cm long. No illustration. Unusual tapa cloak with high-standing collar and neck tie and cape effect round the shoulders. Has a dark brown pattern with squares bordered by six red lines.
The item is said to have belonged to the Queen of the Sandwich Islands. Source: Thought to be Hawaii. C.1910.221
171. Tapa Cloth, 21cm * 8cm - small portion of tapa cloth with pale brown triangles and small black triangles. Given to G. A. Thomson on 14th Feb 1839 by Kapiolani Kuapehu. Kapiolani was probably the most important chiefess, daughter of Keawemauhili of Hilo. Source: Hawaii. C.1915.474
172. Kahili, 125cm long. A plume of black feathers with some yellow at the base tops a shaft covered with rings of turtle shell and terminates in an ivory handle. Source: Hawaii. C.1911.136
173. Combs 27.5cm long; 20cm long: light wooden combs with delicate latticework carving of the upper portion. Such combs were worn as part of the headdress by the sons and daughters of Samoan chiefs. Source: Samoa. C.80.1905a and b.
174. Portrait of King Kamehameha I of Hawaii (black and white drawing - a pen and ink copy). The King's name is also spelled 'Tammahammaha'; and he was the famous king who united the Hawaiian islands in 1795. He encouraged foreign contacts and imitated European lifestyles. C.1917.114
175. Adze blade, 25cm long. No illustration. Nephrite or
greenstone adze blade with bevelled edge. Would most certainly have been the property of a Maori chief and used for ceremonial purposes only. C.3254
176. Portrait (small oil painting) of Maori chief, 30cm by 24cm. Portrait of Kuha, Native of Ngaiterangi Tribe, Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. This is a copy of a watercolour in the Robley Collection, Dominion Museum of Te Kuha, Ngati-Terangi Chief. C.6.1926
177. Queen Tahiatanani's Leg. Marquesan ladies of high rank had their legs, arms, hands and part of their faces tattooed
Contact and Trade:
178. Ceremonial Adze 140cm long - an extremely large adze which would have been made as a trade item. Source: Mangaia, Cook Islands. C.3261
179.
Ceremonial Adze 56cm high. No illustration. A fine pedestal adze with square-sectioned base of openwork sides. Source: Mangaia, Cook Islands. C.27.1983
180. Tourist Plates 26cm diameter. Enamelled tin plates made in the early 1930s - one has an illustration of a Maori mother and child. The other has Maggie and Bella, Rotorua guides. Round both rims are various scenes and small portraits of Maori men and women. Both plates are illustrated in the book. Published for Isles Rotorua by George Hadfield, Wellington. C.70.1981 and C.71.1981
181. Fan 33cm long - woven pandanus leaf attached to large pearl shell and used as a fan or hair ornament. It was made for the tourist trade. Bought from Penrhyn Island (Tongareva, Northernmost atoll, Cook islands). C.4.1982
182. Necklace - not illustrated. Shell necklace with a pendant of dragon's head cowries Cypraea picea shells. These are made by Easter Islanders and given to tourists at the airport on their arrival. C.7.1983.
183. Male Figure - wooden male figure, made in the New Georgia area of the Western Solomons, showing trader or missionary influence. The loincloth is made of tapa cloth, the hair of hibiscus fibre and the beard of human hair. C.478.1924
184. Ceremonial paddle 150cm long. Leaf-bladed paddle with long square-sectioned shaft and square handle, carved overall. There is a different pattern of stylised figures carved on each side of the handle. Source: Ra'ivavae, Austral Islands. C.1910.762
185. Scrimshaw Plaque, 23.5cm long. This sperm whale bone plaque was the base of a water tub which had eight side pieces (16cm high) slotted together and held in place by three copper bands. The copper bands are now missing. On the back is written 'Made by whalers in the South Seas'. C.500.1916
186. Scrimshaw Teeth. Not illustrated. Two scrimshaw cachalot whale teeth inscribed with the portraits of King George III and his Queen Charlotte. Purchase.C.5014.1992 a and b
187. Whalebone Busk, 34cm long. Not illustrated. Whalebone busk for the bodice front of stays, with a scene of a whaling ship, a long boat with five oarsmen and one harpooner; another boat with five oarsmen and one harpooner sticking a whale. C.444.1919
188. Walking stick, 89cm long. Not illustrated - made from the bones of sperm whales. The lower part of the shaft is covered in a spiral; the central portion is fluted and the upper portion has four openwork squared pillars with a spiral shaft inside. The top of the shaft has a round pearl shell inlay. Source: South Seas. C.1910.296
189. Walking stick, 98cm long. Not illustrated. Whale ivory stock covered with bands of tortoiseshell in attractive bands of cream and shades of brown - Thomson must have traded something to acquire this from a Tahitian noble.. C.1910.298
190. Pamphlets 11cm by 18.5cm. Not illustrated. Six small pamphlets written in the native language:
1. Tahiti - printed at the Mission Press 1830
2. Printed at the Mission Press, Tongataboo (Tonga) Aug. 1835
3. Printed at the Mission Press, Nukualofa, Sept. 1832
4. Tongataboo - Printed at the Mission Press, Dec. 1834
5. Tahiti - Printed at the Mission Press, 1837
6. Printed at the Mission Press, Tonga, Oct. 1834
None of the Pacific Islands has a written language before the coming of the Europeans. When the missionaries arrived, they quickly established printing presses to purvey the gospel more speedily to the inhabitants. C.1911.1378
191. Ladle - 113cm long. This is a finely carved oval ladle with a long shaft terminating in a round handle. Where the bowl meets the shaft, there is a schematized face with two sun motifs for eyes. A series of eight face masks is carved round the handle. It's may have been made as a food scoop or trading item. Source: Ra'ivavae, Austral Islands. C.76.1956
192. Photograph of Samoan girls on board HMS Orlando wearing European blouses with traditional skirts of very fine matting. Source: Annesley Archives, c.1895, PRONI
193. Scene in the Sandwich Islands; Getting Swine to Market - line drawing brought back by Gordon Augustus Thomson of a scene in the Hawaiian Islands, 1839. an Hawaiian man, wearing traditional tapa loin cloth, carries a pole on which are slung two gourds in nets. A European dallies with a maiden dressed in a tapa cloth skirt. They are on a mountain path on the side of the mountain with sheer rise to the left of them and sheer drop to the right with a mountain peak and sheer mountain side in the distance. A man rests on a branch from a pollarded tree
Navigation and Seafaring
194. Solomon Islands Canoe - four colour photos. This is a carvel-built (plank-built) sea-going canoe, thirteen metres long, with prow and stern pieces of light-weight wood 366cm high added on each end. The prow of the Solomons canoe has a crocodile head with a cut-out portion representing its large mouth full of teeth. Crocodiles were a common feature of the coastal mangrove swamps and quite often occur as a decorative motif. The top of the sweeping prow has a Janus-headed finial. The head was very important to the Solomon Islanders, both in their religion and as an artistic motif. The stern has as its finial, a human head.
Source: This canoe most likely came from Choiseul and was lifted from one of the Solomon Islands by Captain J. Casement when he was commanding officer of HMS Rapid on the Australia station from November 1895-1898. The canoe was removed because the natives had been head-hunting and it was brought back to Belfast on board SS Pladda in 1896, lashed to her deck. Each canoe had a guardian spirit figure fitted at the prow just above the water line, called a nusunusu.
195.
Model Boat - no illustration. This model outrigger canoe comes from Mortland Island, a small island some miles off Bougainville. C.6.1986
196. Paddle, 177cm long. Ornate and painted black. Source: South-east islands. C.1175
197. Paddle, 168cm long. Paddle with bifurcated handle and sharply painted elongated leaf-shaped blade. There is fine carving at the top of the blade. Source: Maori, NZ. C.1174
198. Paddle 136cm long. No illustration. It is a narrow leaf-bladed paddle with crutch-topped handle. Written on the blade is N Tohmas - it is one of the nine paddles which accompanied the Solomon Islands canoe. C.963
199. Paddle 157cm long - a flat leaf-bladed paddle with rolled crutch handle - the blade has carved decoration rather like a schematic face - it was one of the nine which accompanied the Solomon Islands canoe back to Belfast. C.963
200. Paddle 157cm long - not illustrated. Flat leaf-bladed paddle with rolled crutch handle. The long leaf-shaded blade has a schematic face on one side very similar to another paddle which accompanied the Solomon Islands canoe. C.963
201. Canoe Baler - rather clumsy canoe baler of elongated dish shape with knobbed-end handle. Source: Melanesia. C.5100
Photograph: Trading canoes at Santa Cruz, c.1895. PRONI
Photograph: Huts and Canoes at Makina, Guadacanal, c.1895. PRONI |
Anthropology in Australasia
Peoples of the Pacific Islands
The Maori
Fijians
Melanesia
The History of the South Pacific
Papua New Guinea
Ethnography, Australasia
Solomon Islands
Tribes in Australasia
Polynesia
Micronesia
People of Hawaii
People of Tahiti
Cook Islands
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