ETHOC 008105

ornement d’oreille féminin pu taiana ou ou taiata

Back to results
008105
Pu taiana or or taiata woman's ear ornament
French Polynesia, Marquesas Islands
Early 20th century
Sperm whale ivory, shell. H 5,5 cm
Acquired from the Neuchâtel Ethnography Museum in 1920
MEG Inv. ETHOC 008105
Geolocate the object

The image above is subject to copyright.
Copyrights for Photographic Reproduction

Registres d'inventaires historiques

Les feuillets numérisés des registres d'inventaires historiques sont soumise à un copyright.
Droits de reproduction photographique

Copie dactylographiée en 13 volumes de l'Inventaire original MEG manuscrit
Registres_inventaire_dactylographie/274.pdf

Registre d'inventaire original - non indexé
Registres_inventaire_original/Registre_02_006686_008774.pdf

 

French Polynesia

French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic, is composed of about 118 volcanic or coral islands, grouped in five archipelagos: the Society Islands, the Marquesas Islands, the Austral Islands, the Gambier Islands and the Tuamotu Islands.

Despite their political ties to France, the people of these archipelagos have and express a strong sense of their Polynesian identity.

Signs of rank, power and prestige

Works from this part of the world give us the opportunity to address the issues of power and prestige and show the communicative capacity of art. Ornamental objects such as jewellery and accessories, as well as weapons, can become status symbols and reveal the codes that distinguish human beings, signalling the gender, age group and rank of the wearer.

Bibliograpy

  • Kjellgren, Eric, Ivory, Carol, Adorning the World. Art of the Marquesas Islands, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.

© 2021 Musée d'ethnographie, Genève