IDNO

P.87209.VH

Description

1870s photograph of a steel engraving of “Tanoa Na Visawaqa, Turaga ki Bau”. “Tanoa, Cakobau’s Father”. Copied from Vol. III of Charles Wilkes, 1845, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. The original portrait of Tanoa (his birth name) or Navisawaqa (one of his ravu or killer’s names), Vunivalu of Bau, from which the engraving was made was done in 1840. He is wears a white masi barkcloth ivauvau or hair-wrapper over his hair. Hung from his neck is a large civavonovono breast-plate composed from plates of split whale ivory sewn round a civa, or mother-of-pearl shell. Above each elbow is a red and white banded qato bracelet, cut from sici or trochus shell. Rather than wearing a malo loincloth, he wears a white barkcloth isulu in the Tongan fashion that was favoured by the high chiefs at home or when not actively engaged.
The breast-plate has survived and is now in the collections of the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, CUMAA Z 2730. [Fergus Clunie, 26/7/2003]

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Tanoa Na Visawaqa (Tanoa Navisawaqa)

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

?von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

circa ?1870 - ?1880

Collection Name

von Hügel Hugel

Source

Format

Carte-de-visite; Print Black & White Mounted

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.87203 to P.87221 were in the Museum’s paper archive envelope, OA2/5/12, which has now been re-numbered C511/.

Publication: A steel engraving of “Tanoa Na Visawaqa, Turaga ki Bau”. “Tanoa, Cakobau’s Father”. Copied from Vol. III of Charles Wilkes, 1845, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. [Fergus Clunie, 26/7/2003]

Publication: For information on the breastplate see F. Clunie, 1983, Tanoa Visawaqa’s Breastplate, Domodomo, 1 (3), pp.123-125]. [Fergus Clunie, 26/7/2003]

This print has been catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Program One. [A. Nadin, 2/7/2003]