1936.26.8

Collection type

Object

Description

Stilt footrest, carved in human form.

Geographical reference

French Polynesia (Overseas Collectivity of France)

Oceania > Polynesia > French Polynesia (Overseas Collectivity of France)

Marquesas Islands

Person

Field collector Edward Lawson

PRM source Charles Miskin Laing

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1840

Date collected

1819 - 1840

Acquisition information

Donated: 1936

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Process Carved

Dimensions

Width: max 66 mm, Height: max 390 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1936.26.8

Research and responses

Janet West of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, has identified Edward Lawson as being active in the South Seas from 1819–1840, rather than 1800–1820 as given in the original accession record (see her letter in RDF/ Collectors/Lawson). [JC 30 1 1996]

Associated publications

Discussed briefly, with 1936.26.6 and 1926.26.7, on page 115 of 'Marquesan Art in the Early Contact Period, 1774–1821, by Carol Susan Ivory (Seattle: University of Washington, Ph.D. thesis, 1990). Ivory writes: 'The three stilt steps in the Pitt Rivers Museum (Figs. 87–89) were said to be collected by Capt. Edward Lawson, the owner of whaling ships, between 1800 and 1820. They are finely carved and may have been made by the same artist.' Ivory also writes (page 196): 'Twelve stilts are known to have been collected before 1821. Captain Edward Lawson collected three stilt steps sometime between 1800 and 1820, now in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (IX 454A,B,C; Figs. 87–89).' Also listed on page 402 of 'Appendix C Objects Collected 1774–1821, By Date Collected' and on page 407 of 'Appendix D Objects Collected 1774–1821—By Object Type'. Ivory also reproduces, as Figure 89 on page 327, a photograph of this object: 'Figure 89. Stilt step, PITT IX.454C.' [JC 14 3 2015]

Search terms: Furniture Dwelling, Figure, Transport and Travel, Commemoration, Death, Footrest