IDNO

P.52396.VH

Description

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.4913.ACH1: Two men in fighting kit.

Two warrior in cuirass (armour) holding sharks' teeth swords. The man on the left wears a plaited coir (coconut fibre) armour consisting of a te tuta (short shirt or jersey) with diamond-shaped motifs probably worked in black human hair, trousers, and a te otana (cuirass), which has a back plate that protected the head and neck from coral rocks; and a helmet (te barantauti) made of inflated porcupine fish skin. The man on the right wears a te tuta over a belt with strips attached, and a te barantauti. The men are standing in front of a printed studio backdrop. [Description from record P.4913.ACH1, JD 17/12/2015]

Place

Oceania Micronesia; Kiribati [Gilbert Islands]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

Collection Name

Von Hugel Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.52395.VH, P.52396.VH and D.52397.VH and D.52398.VH were inside the envelope now numbered C262/1/3/6/. The envelope C262/1/3/ was in the drawer now numbered as C262/1/. The drawer is the first one of the entire green cabinet which was formerly numbered as batch 150, and now re-numbered C262/.

A similar photograph of a native of Gilbert Islands wearing the same armour is on the website ‘www.justpacific.com’ in the section concerning the photographs of the Dufty Brothers.

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program One. [Alex Nadin, 13/2/2003]