IDNO

P.87372.VH

Description

Studio portrait of a young man dressed in Christian fighting or ceremonial garb - effectively the review and battle dress of the Armed Native Constabulary. He has flowers in his oiled hair, and at least one tobe plaitlet. Round his neck is a batinivuaka boar tusk pendant. He is wearing a white barkcloth malo loincloth, with the waistband worn high up under his ribs in the provocative malowala manner. The coiled maloyara train to his malo signifies chiefly status. Round his waist he wears a black likusausauwai skirt embellished with striped and pleated pandanus leaf streamers. The muscles of his arms above the elbow and his legs below the knee are braced with black vesasausauwai wrappings fringed with glass trade beads. Note the ornate base of a photographer’s clamp behind his chair.
Circa 1875-1976.
Note: This man, and others dressed like him, may be auxiliaries who were mustered from various parts of Fiji to fight for the colonial government in the Vitilevu mountain war of 1876, members of these forces holding taqa reviews pledging loyalty to the governor and mounting bolebole boasts or challenges at Levuka prior to being deployed in the field. [Fergus Clunie, 26/7/2003]

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Ovalau Island; ?Levuka

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

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.87352.VH to P.87387.VH were in the envelope now numbered C512/6/. This envelope came from the Museum’s paper archive envelope VH1/4/7, which has now been re-numbered C512/.

Related Image: This print or negative appears to be a unique image within the MAA Photograph Collections. [JD 29/12/2011]

Photographer: This image was previously provisionally attributed to Dufty, but the curtain, chair, and studio wall with skirting board are identifiable as being of Francis Dufty’s studio, Levuka. (Compare with P.70157.ACH2.) [JD 28/3/2012]

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