IDNO

P.99710.VH

Description

“88. NANDRAU”
“Cannibal trophy. (25 human leg bones with tree grown round them. Shaddock tree (‘Moli’) being chief’s [?in use]. Na Drau. Viti Levu. 1876. In Sir Arthur Gordon’s collection.” [von Hügel’s caption]

“Trophy of human thigh and shin bones taken in the mountains from the cannibals July 1877. Each bone (there are 25 in number) represents a man eaten: the lot in one town by the chief.”
There are actually two such “trophies” in the photograph, both being forks cut from molikana or shaddock (Citrus grandis) trees. For background to this form of commemorative register, see Fergus Clunie, 1986, ‘Yalo i Viti’, note 196, pp.186-89. [Fergus Clunie, 16/10/2003, from record P.100280.VH, JD 9/12/2011]

Physical Condition: Print mounted onto card.

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Ovalau Island; Near Levuka; ?Nasova

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

post July 1877

Collection Name

von Hügel Collection

Source

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Format

Print Black & White Mounted

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.99674.VH to P.99724.VH are in A.174.VH. The album was formerly kept in paper archive Large Box G; VH1/4/5. It has now been transferred to the photo archive. The lists describing the contents of this box have been returned to the Paper Archive.

Bibliographical Reference: For background to this form of commemorative register, see Fergus Clunie, 1986, ‘Yalo i Viti’, note 196, pp. 186-89. [Fergus Clunie, 16/10/2003]

This print has been catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Fund. [A. Nadin, 4/9/2003]