Two Standing Figures

Wooden figures, Society Islands, 1886.1.1424 and .1423

These carved wooden figures from the Society Islands were described by the Forsters as 'Wooden representations of human figures.'  The figures, male and female, have been described in the past as 'idols', and to have been associated with the 'free standing sorcery figures' that were the abodes of inferior and sometimes malignant gods, the 'oromatua.  

It has also been suggested that the figures, known as ti'i were used as canoe prows or stern figures, since the feet are damaged, as they appear to have been attached at one time to a larger piece of wood.

1886.1.1424 Female figure

According to Hooper, in 'Pacific Encounters - Art and Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860' (British Museum Press, 2006) the asymmetrical hand position of the female figure is very unusual in the Society Islands.  He goes on to say that 'the second-voyage ships visited several places in the group, and, given that no specific island style has yet been identified, this figure may be from an island other than Tahiti or Ra'iatea.'

A Chance Discovery

The Pitt Rivers Museum was founded in 1884 when General Pitt Rivers, an influential figure in the development of archaeology and evolutionary anthropology, gave his collection to the University.  The ethnographic holdings of the Ashmolean were transferred to the Pitt Rivers in 1886, including the Forster collection.

Sometimes, objects, or fragments of objects, were transferred and the provenance was unknown.  Research into these is ongoing, and that's why I happened to notice a strip of barkcloth, waiting to be investigated, in one of our store rooms.  It carries the blue label which indicates that it came from the Ashmolean, and a note with it said that it has no provenance or number.

Barkcloth strip with blue Ashmolean label

On examining the strip of black-dyed, brittle barkcloth, two things struck me - that it was very similar in appearance to a strip of black barkcloth on the cape of the Tahitian Mourner's costume, largely missing, and that the remains of paste or gum along one long edge of the strip indicate that it was originally pasted onto something else, similar to the way that the differently coloured barkcloth strips are pasted onto the cape.

Remains of paste along the top edge of the strip

Closer investigation of the cape was difficult, as the Mourner's costume is currently on display in 'exploded' form.  However, we managed to take the hat and cape out of the case and examine the damaged black barkcloth stripe - there was no doubt that it was identical to the piece I had found.  Slightly puzzling was the fact that the loose strip was about 10cm too long to have been the missing part of this black stripe.

Expected position of barkcloth strip on Mourner's Costume cape

Looking at the cape, it appears that there is an entire stripe of barkcloth missing, as the pattern of stripes is broken near the top.  Lifting the remaining barkcloth strips, it's possible to see the underlying piece of barkcloth to which they are all pasted.  There, just where I had expected, were residues of a line of paste, with fibres of black barkcloth embedded in them. The length of the missing stripe corresponded  to the length of the barkcloth strip that I'd found in the store.  There is no doubt that the missing strip of barkcloth was the piece I had found, which must have been separated from the costume for over 120 years.

Actual position of barkcloth strip on cape

When the Mourner's costume is taken off of display in preparation for remounting as part of a new Cook-voyage display after the end of this project, I will reattach the strip of black barkcloth and reunite the pieces of the cape.

'A black piece'

Emma Schmitt, a MPhil student in textile conservation, based at the Centre for Textile Conservation, Glasgow University, started at the Pitt Rivers on Monday.  She will be with us for eight weeks, working on Cook-voyage objects for the Conserving "Curiosities" project.

1886.1.1256 Barkcloth, Tahiti

Emma's first project is to investigate a piece of barkcloth, collected on Tahiti - Forster No. 18 'A black piece'. It has three layers-the bottom two are recognisably Tahitian, but the top layer, with its fish-scale like appearance, is very unusual.

Corner of barkcloth, showing deterioration

There are several questions we hope to answer about this barkcloth - why is the black layer deteriorating so badly?  What has been applied to the surface to create the dotted decoration? (There has been a suggestion that this might even be a European paint obtained on a previous voyage).

Microscope image showing detail of applied dots

Is the black barkcloth even originally from Tahiti? Emma will spend time trying to answer some of these questions, and investigating conservation treatments for the fragile barkcloth.

Digital Images

For the past few days I have been uploading digital images of Cook-voyage objects into the Museum's digital image archive.  The archive is the result of a recent project, 'Pictures worth a thousand words', funded by the Esme Fairburn Foundation.  This project aimed to scan and digitise our collection of historical images, and to create systems for managing the digital images generated by various museum departments. 

Some of the images I've been uploading will soon be available on the Pitt Rivers online databases, but many more will be part of the new Cook-voyage collection website which will be an outcome of this project.

Here are some of those images:

1866.1.1404 Belt, Tonga.  Detail of construction

1886.1.1438 Club, Tonga.  Detail of carved decoration

1886.1.1340 Headdress, Marquesas Islands.  Detail of reverse, showing construction techniques

1887.1.392 Breastplate, Tahiti

1886.1.1568 Teeth ornament, New Zealand.  Microscope image showing red ochre

1886.1.1550 Barkcloth beater, Tahiti, showing fragments of barkcloth in grooves

1886.1.1571 Necklace, Tonga.  Detail of carved bird ornament

Photographing Barkcloth

Last week we photographed some of the large backcloths and mats from the Cook-voyage collections here at the Pitt Rivers.  This takes a bit of planning, as the only way to do it is to use the Researcher's Room, which has a light well opening into the floor above.  We can lay the barkcloth out on the floor or table, and take a photo by leaning over the railing. One barkcloth, recorded as being in three pieces, turned out to actually be a single piece, over 12m long - much too big even for that space!  Here are a few of the images, which will soon be available on the Pitt Rivers online databases, and on the new Cook-voyage collection website, currently under construction.

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Barkcloth, Tonga  1886.1.1225

Mat, Tonga  1886.1.1172

Barkcloth, Tahiti  1886.1.1234

Barkcloth, Tahiti 1886.1.1240

Mat, Tonga 1886.1.1174