IDNO

D.153976.VH

Description

Woodblock of a drawing by probably Arthur 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, description from P.99797.VH , JD 23/11/2022]

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

Format

Drawing

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.153893.VH - D.153980.VH were transferred from the Paper Archive VH1/4/9 (envelope 5), in 2021, and located in a paper folder now numbered C1045/.

D.153946.VH - D.153980.VH were wrapped in brown paper, now numbered C1045/2.

D.153946.VH - D.153979.VH were found together in a brown Boots envelope, now numbered C1045/2/1.