Pahu drum, Marquesas Islands, Polynesia, 19th century - Lot 21

Lot n° 21
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Estimation :
30000 - 50000 EUR
Pahu drum, Marquesas Islands, Polynesia, 19th century - Lot 21
Pahu drum, Marquesas Islands, Polynesia, 19th century decorated with carved wood tiki, shark skin and coconut fiber rope. Patina of use. (Missing ivipo, wear, some braids damaged). H. 53 cm The upper part is striated horizontally. The lower part is adorned with geometric motifs and "tiki" faces. The tiki is a human representation meaning "man", "god" or "god-man". Pahu drums were generally hollowed out of a coconut or Cordia Subcordata trunk and covered with a shark skin stretched by braids of pu'u coconut husk. These drums, whose skin was struck with the hands, were used for religious ceremonies. There are sixteen different shapes and sizes of drum, depending on their use, from the large ritual pahu mea'e to the small pahu kumi and hakete that accompany singing. For dances, four or five instruments of various sizes are combined to play polyrhythmically. Drums similar in size to our own played a central role in these festivities, which consisted of feasts interspersed with song and dance during war truces. The sharkskin membrane shown here could also have been made of dog skin in the past. This pahu is adorned with sculpted motifs that give it a mystical appearance, and wavelets that recall the sound waves of the drum. Their nervous, non-repetitive carving is a perfect testimony to great Marquesan art. Provenance : - Galerie Le Corneur Roudillon - Roudillon Collection Bibliography: Le Musée Vivant-L'art Océanien, Association Populaire des Amis du Musée 1951, p. 98 N. 177. Exhibition: "Art du Pacifique" Indonesia - Oceania, Galerie Le Corneur Roudillon, 51 rue Bonaparte, Paris 24/01-15/02 1951 p. 194. Similar model: Collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, inv. n° B9706
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