IDNO

P.99914.VH

Description

F.H. Dufty studio photograph of Ratu Koroiravulo and Yadi Mere, his daughter, whose tobe ringlets indicate she has yet to marry. Koriravulo is dressed vakatoga or in the Tonga fashion favoured by the high chiefs, with a gatuvakatoga barkcloth wrapper, fastened and folded over high beneath his ribs and secured by a barkcloth sash, Yadi Mere’s high born status is reflected by her iwabale shoulder sash. See P.99960.VH for another view of Koroi Ravulo.
Circa 1873-1874. [Fergus Clunie, 14/7/2003]

Physical Condition: Print mounted onto card.

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Ovalau Island; ?Levuka

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Ratu Koroiravulo; Yadi Mere (also known as Naisogacaucau)

Photographer

Dufty, Francis Herbert (Dufty Brothers, Levuka)

Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

circa 1873 - 1874

Collection Name

von Hügel Collection

Source

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Format

Print Black & White Mounted

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.99726.VH to P.100050.VH were in the belted folder now numbered C539/3/. 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.

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 brocade curtain patterned with a floral design framed by a diamond-shaped outline is also distinct to Dufty’s Levuka studio. The Photographer, Date, and Place fields have been amended accordingly. [JD 20/3/2012]

Related Image: This print or negative appears to be a unique image within the MAA Photograph Collections. [JD 21/1/2012]

This print has been catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Fund. [A. Nadin, 18/9/2003]