IDNO

P.99999.VH

Description

F.H. Dufty studio group photograph of Yadi Mere of Bau (left - a particular friend of Baron von Hugel and alleged “sweetheart” of Lt. Henry Olive), little Yadi Viniana (youngest daughter of Ratu Savenaca and Yadi Tatila of Bau) and “Sinemilika”, a Lasakau woman. See P.99913. for a younger view of Yadi Viniana; P.100000.VH for a closer look at Yadi Mere.
Circa 1875-1876. [Fergus Clunie, 14/7/2003]

Dufty studio portrait of a pair of Fijian women and a young girl, seated more comfortably on a mat on the floor rather than perched upon an unfamiliar chair. All three sit in the traditional Fijian women’s stance, with their legs folded to one-side, this differing from the men’s cross-legged sitting posture, very likely having been dictated by the fact that hitherto women had worn very skimpy liku skirts, whereas men had worn malo loincloths, which effectively pouched their genitals, which Fijians of both sexes were loath to expose. The two women are respectably dressed in broad-necked vinivoa (pinafore) bodices with elbow length sleeves and long cloth isulu skirts, and both wear beaded neckbands, one with a shell pendant. The little girl is dressed for the occasion in fringed white barkcloth, with iwabale shoulder sash, waist sash, and wrap-around skirt. She has a plume or tuft of macerated, striped and frazzled coconut or pandanus leaf in her hair, and qato bracelet made from a sici or trochus shell above the left elbow. See P.99999.VH for their identities. [Fergus Clunie, 26/7/2003, from record P.87474.VH, JD 1/1/2012]

Physical Condition: Print mounted onto card.

Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Ovalau Island; Levuka

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Yadi Mere (also known as Naisogacaucau); Yadi Viniana; Sinemilika

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.

Photographer: This image 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 Photographer, Date, and Place fields have been amended accordingly. [JD 13/3/2012]

This print has been catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Fund. [A. Nadin, 13/10/2003]