IDNO

P.99934.VH

Description

F.H. Dufty studio photograph of three men in the war or ceremonial dress of the 1870s, essentially consisting of a malo loincloth surmounted by that hall mark of the Christian warrior, a liku overskirt. The man at left has an ornamental comb and broad pandanus leaf streamers in his hair, and is wearing a boar tusk pendant at his throat, rather than the beaded necklets favoured by the other two. The central man has tobe ringlets falling over his shoulders from behind each of his ears. All have the muscles of their legs below the knee braced by vesa bindings, those of the centre man being composed of bands of pandanus leaf, those of the other two being of braided waloa or sausauwai, with beaded fringes. Two of them have qato bracelets made from the sici or trochus shell above one elbow.
Circa 1875-1876.
See P.99938.VH for their places of origin, i.e. the left and right hand men are from Rewa, southeast Vitilevu, the middle man from Kadavu, well to the south of Viutilevu, but closely allied to Rewa. [Fergus Clunie, 14/7/2003, updated from record P.99938.VH, JD 24/1/2012]

Physical Condition: Print mounted onto card.

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Ovalau Island; Levuka

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Dufty, Francis Herbert (Dufty Brothers, Levuka)

Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)

Date

circa 1875 - 1876

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.

This print has been catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Fund. [A. Nadin, 24/9/2003]