Loan (Exhibition)
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, Norwich, October 15 2016- February 12 2017, Fiji: Art and Life in the Pacific
Event Date
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Spirit house of fibre.
Event Date 1/6/1996
Author: maa

Context (CMS Context)
Thirty-Fourth Annual Report of the Antiquarian Committee to the Senate with Lists of Accessions for the Years 1917 and 1918 [6 March 1919], List of Accessions from January 1 to December 31, 1918: '1918.213. Additions to the Gordon Collection: (1) Hair ornaments of coco-palm film; (2-13) twelve necklaces with pendants ground out of sperm whale teeth, including one of unusually large size and one with peculiar taper pendants; (14-16) three breast-ornaments: composite plates of irregular oval outline with serrated edges, formed of whale-tooth ivory plaques and centres of pearl-shell with ivory inlay; one unusually large (10" x 10".8) with circular shell centre, bearing an angular pendant device of ivory; one (7".8 x 7".8) with square centre inlaid with a pair of crossed ivory fillets forming a St Andrew's cross, and four roundlets; and one (6".5 x 7".8) with oblong centre, bearing a single four-rayed star; (17) a penannular boar's tusk, worn as a pendant by men of position; (18) a bundle of folded lengths of thin, white bark cloth, used for turbans, scarves, etc.; (27) an oblong door-step of hard wood; (28) seven floor-mats: three ornate and four plain; (19) a bale of thick white bark cloth; (20) a large piece of bark cloth bearing a bold design in black and white; (29) a small mat for carrying an indent; (64) a child's paddle; (62) a boy chief's cylindrical club with carved grip; (30) a fan of variegated plaited coconut-leaf; (31) a number of baskets; (32-49) eighteen earthenware vessels of various forms; (50) a carved coconut receptacle for oil; (61) an incised bamboo receptacle for tobacco leaves; (52, 53) two small four legged kava bowls (circular and oval); (51) a carved wooden ring-stand for kava strainer; (54-60) seven unusually large, ground and enamelled coconut drinking-cups; (23-25) three old men's sticks; (21, 22) two fly-whisks of coconut-fibre; (63) a chief's palm-leaf war fan; (66-73) eight tambua (polished sperm whale teeth, used as tokens of good faith) with ornate loop of plaited coconut-fibre: some of the teeth are ground into symmetrical forms and stained red. These tambua were presented to the first Governor of Fiji (Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon) at the cession of the Islands and on other ceremonial occasions, 1876-1880; (65) a wooden vei-tinka head, inlaid with sperm whale ivory roundels; and (26 a and b) a pair of models of a mbure (spirit-house) made of plaited coconut-fibre cord. The Lord Stanmore.
Event Date 3/10/2012
Author: Lucie Carreau

Description (CMS Description)
Portable temple or shrine (bure kalou). Foundation of reed wrapped in complex bindings of 3-ply plaited coir cords. The base is square and bound with plaited coir cords forming diamond patterns. On top of the base is placed a square platform onto which is placed the square temple, with an arched door at the front. The roof is pyramidal. A ridge-pole is placed at the top of the roof, protruding on both sides. The bindings are of brown coir, except from the door frame of black coir (bound to the rest of the temple with 4 lashings of brown coir), the upper part and lower part of the roof (also formed of black coir), the corners of the house and roof (bound with a vertical band of black coir forming two rows of zigzags), and the sides and upper part of the section of roof holding the ridge pole (black coir). Good condition but a few strands of plaited coir on the ridge-pole have become detached and needs to be re-bound. Dusty. A small metal label reads [handwritten in white ink:] '1918.213.26 B'. A small cream label attached to the roof reads [handwritten in black ink:] '1918.213 (26 B) Bure. Fiji Islands. Stanmore Collection. 1913'. A large paper label pinned on the front of the base reads [printed in black ink:] 'Z. 3976'.
Event Date 3/10/2012
Author: maa

Context (CMS Context)
Catalogue card 1 reads [handwritten in blue ink:] '1918 213 (26) FIJI. A pair of models of a mbure (spirit house) made of plaited coconut fibre. G. A. M. Hamilton-Gordon. 2nd Baron Stanmore (see 1st Card)'. Two black and white photographs of the object stapled to the back of the card.
Catalogue card 2 reads [stamped in blue ink:] 'Z 3975 FIJI'. [typed:] 'Spirit house, of fibre, A. H. Gordon. Circa 1875.' [added in pencil:] 'model of' and '1918-213-26 B no card'. A small round red sticker pasted to the front of the card.
Catalogue card 3 reads [handwritten in black ink:] 'Z. 3975. SpiritHouse, model of, in fibre. A. H. Gordon. Circa 1875.' [added in pencil:] '1918-213-26 B No card (Date when presented by Lord Stanmore'. [in pencil in the bottom left corner:] 'Top 21 / over case 3'.
Catalogue card 4 reads [stamped in black ink:] 'Z 3976 FIJI'. [typed:] 'Spirit house of fibre'. [added in pencil:] 'A.v.H.' [in pencil in the bottom left corner:] 'Top 21 / Over case 4'. A black and white photograph of the object stapled to the back of the card.
Catalogue card 5 reads [handwritten in black ink:] 'Z. 3976. Spirit house of fibre.' [added in pencil:] 'A.v.H.' [in pencil in the bottom left corner:] 'Top 21 / Over case 4'.
Event Date 3/10/2012
Author: Lucie Carreau

Context (CMS Context)
Exhibited: 'Chiefs & Governors: Art and power in Fiji', Cambridge MAA, 7 June 2013 - 19 April 2014.
Event Date 25/4/2014
Author: Remke van der Velden

Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2015.2080 | Remedial
Event Date 3/12/2015
Author: rah99

Description (CMS Description)
Model spirit house.
Previous conservation record ID: C 2013.41

Event Date 7/12/2016
Author: maa

Conservation ()
CON.2013.41 |
Event Date 1/3/2016
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Minor shedding of the coconut fibre in various places in transit to and return from the SCVA exhibition 'Fiji: Art and Life in the Pacific' 15 October 2016-12 February 2017.
Event Date 30/3/2017
Author: Remke Velden