Polynesian Art

Map of the South Pacific (Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia)

Dish for Yaqona, Fiji, early 19th century, wood and

shell, Fiji Museum, Suva, Fiji.Man preparing Yaqona, Fiji Museum.

Pahu-Ra (Ceremonial Drum), Ra’ivavae, Austral Islands, 1800–50, tamanu wood, sharkskin, sennit,

Indiana University Art Museum, Wielgus Collection.

Tapuva’e (Stilt Step), Marquesas Islands, 19th century, toa wood,

H. 17 ¾ in. (45.1 cm), Indiana University Art Museum.

Club ('U'u), Marquesas Islands, early to mid-19th century, Wood and fiber, H. 60 1/4

x W. 6 5/8 x D. 3 3/4 in. (153 x 16.8 x 9.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Moai at Ahu Tongariki, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), c. 1400,

volcanic stone and scoria.

Moai Kavakava, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), 19th

century, wood, bone, obsidian, Indiana University

Art Museum.

Image (To'o) representing the deity 'Oro, Tahiti,

Society Islands, 18th century, wood, coconut

husk fiber, feathers, H. 18 1/8 x Diam. 2 7/8

in. (46 x 7.3 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Hei Tiki pendant, Maori peoples, New Zealand, 19th century,

nephrite, haliotis shell, H. 9 in. (22.9 cm), Raymond and

Laura Wielgus Collection, Indiana University Art Museum.

Carved by Raharuhi Rukupo of Rongowhakaata, Interior of a Maori meetinghouse, Te Hau-ki-Turanga, 1840–2.

Owned by the Rongowhakaata Tribe, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand.

I’e toga (Fine Mat), Samoa, early 19th century, pandanus fiber, parrot feathers.

Kapa (barkcloth), Hawaii, 18th century, processed bark bast, 80 x 45 cm,

Bernisches Historisches Museum.

Masi Kesa (Barkcloth Panel), Naitauba, Lau Islands, Fiji, late 19th–early 20th

century, barkcloth and pigment; L. 165 in. (419.1 cm)

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ngatu (Barkcloth), Tonga, 1972, mulberry and pigment,

British Museum, 413 x 201 cm.

Siapo (Barkcloth), Samoa Islands, c. 1930–50, mulberry

and pigment, Indiana University Art Museum.

Applique quilts (in progress), Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 2014. Tïvaevae ta’örei (Patchwork Quilt), Cook

Islands, c. 1900, Te Papa Museum.

Feather cloak, Hawai’i, c. 18th century, feathers and

fiber, 259 cm, British Museum.

Kākahu (Māori cloaks) in two styles, from Te

Papa. Click on this hyperlink to access 23 videos

and more images of cloaks.

Lei Niho Palaoa, early 19th century, Hawai‘i, walrus ivory, human hair, fiber, W. 4 1/4 x D. 16 in.

(10.8 x 40.6 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Samoan Tatau

Pe’a, Male tattooing

•Extends from above waist to below knees

•Designs blocked out and filled with

secondary motifs that represent objects in

natural world

Malu, Female tattooing

• Extend from upper thighs to behind knees

•Bilaterally symmetrical

•Overall design appears lacy, less dense than

men’s tattooing

•Use of lozenge-shaped motif on back of the

knees Video, Tales from Te Papa, Episode 87: Curator

Sean Mallon discusses Samoan Tatau