IDNO

P.87244.VH

Description

“Rotumah”. [von Hügel’s? annotation]

F.H. Dufty carte-de-visite studio portrait of a young Rotuman man and two female relatives, the younger of whom may be his twin sister. From their features and dress, they may be relatives of the woman in P.87235.VH. He is dressed entirely as a European, in suit, waistcoat, shirt and tie, trousers and boots. The two women, however, are dressed like respectable Fijian women of the day, with broad-necked vinivoa (“pinafore”) bodices, and cloth isulu wrap-around skirts, the younger woman’s isulu looking like some sort of fringed throw or travel rug. The younger woman also wears a beaded throat necklet in the Fijian fashion; the older a locket attached to a black cloth band - another Fijian favourite.
Circa 1875-1876. [Fergus Clunie, 26/7/2003]

Rotuman women were often employed as servants and in hotels in Levuka. Many men worked on the ships. [Fergus Clunie 3/5/2012]

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Ovalau Island; Levuka; Rotuma [Rotumah]

Cultural Affliation

Rotuman

Named Person

Photographer

Dufty, Francis Herbert (Dufty Brothers, Levuka)

Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

circa 1875 - 1876

Collection Name

Von Hugel Collection

Source

Format

Carte-de-visite; Print Black & White Mounted

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.87222.VH to P.87277.VH were found loose in the Museum’s paper archive envelope, VH1/4/7, which has now been re-numbered C512/.

Photographer: This print is recognisable as Dufty’s Levuka studio through the painted studio backdrop to represent a view out a window with shutters (note the knob added to the shutter that casts a shadow). This appears to be a feature of Dufty’s studio throughout the 1870s, although the idealised landscape ‘view’ changes around 1875-1876. The Photographer, Date, and Place fields have been amended accordingly. [JD 16/3/2012]

Related Image: This print or negative appears to be a unique image within the MAA Photograph Collections. [JD 22/12/2011]

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