IDNO

P.99797.VH

Description

Photograph of a sketch (A.J.L. Gordon?) of the interior of a chief’s house on Vitilevu, with the chief lying on his back on a fringed sleeping mat under a gatu barkcloth coverlet (or wearing it vakatoga or Tongan fashion, the detail being unclear) with the nape of his neck on a kali headrest whilst a kneeling woman wearing a liku skirt and a barkcloth waistsash fans him. In the corner of the house is the rectangular matadravu or fireplace, isolated from the mats and wall by a bed of pebbles, and bounded by slabs of firewood. Three kuro or pottery cooking pots stand on sue or potstands in the fireplace, tended by two women wearing liku, watched by an old man. Two children sit whispering to one another on a sleeping mat, watching the lounging chief and his attendant. Above the fireplace, suspended by its corners from the rafters overhead, is a rack for firewood and more kuro. A large tanoa or yaqona bowl is hanging against the wall, with two clubs on the wall near the doorway. A saqa water jar sits beside a post.
1870s. [Fergus Clunie, 14/7/2003]

Physical Condition: Print mounted onto card.

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Viti Levu

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

?Gordon, Arthur J.L. [Artist]

Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

circa ?1870 - ?1880

Collection Name

von Hügel Collection

Source

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Format

Print Black & White Mounted

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.99759.VH to P.99825.VH were in the belted folder now numbered C539/2/. This 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.

Related Image: This print or negative appears to be a unique image within the MAA Photograph Collections. [JD 9/1/2012]

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