Ɵ Austral Islands Ceremonial ra'ivavae Paddle
Wood
H.... Lot 20
Result :
Not available
Estimate :
Subscribers only
Ɵ Austral Islands Ceremonial ra'ivavae Paddle
Wood
H. 190 cm
Austral Islands Ceremonial ra'ivavae Paddle
H. 75 in
Provenance:
- W.O. Oldman, London
- Sotheby's London, 17 June 1991 (lot 87)
- Hélène and Philippe Leloup, Paris
- Private collection
Publication :
- Steven Hooper, Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860, The British Museum Press, London, 2006, p. 216.
- Allen Wardwell, Island Ancestors: Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Washington University Press, Seattle, 1994, pg. 200.
An object of rank or status, this is a ceremonial paddle, called a ra'ivavae, which is large in size and particularly carefully and spectacularly engraved. The elegant blade is leaf-shaped, small and engraved with "x" and zigzags, as well as the long cylindrical handle that ends with a magnificent pommel with nine typical island figures. A beautiful dark brown patina covers the whole object. This paddle is most probably from the first half of the 19th century.
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