1933.38.7

Collection type

Object

Description

Solid wooden bowl with four legs and triangular perforated lug. [El.B 31/10/2011]

Long description

Solid wooden bowl with four legs and triangular perforated lug. Was broken and repaired with wire. [El.B 31/10/2011]

Geographical reference

Fiji

Oceania > Melanesia > Fiji

Person

Field collector Samuel Ward Payne

Field collector HMS Curaçoa

PRM source Julius Delmege Payne

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1865

Date collected

July 26 - August 3 1865

Acquisition information

Donated: 1933

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Material Metal, Process Carved, Process Perforated

Dimensions

Diameter: max 432 mm, Height: max 130 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1933.38.7

Research and responses

Examined on 14 June 2012 by Fergus Clunie who noted the local name for this is a tanoa bowl. The four legs rake quite strongly outwards and are deliberately keeled on one side. [ZM 14/06/2012]

This object was examined by Steven Hooper (UEA) during a research visit in December 2011. He made the following comments: Triangular lug with circular hole in front, forking into 2 holes at back, either side of tapering section. 4 legs have 'heart-shaped' section, ridge on outside. Crack repaired with 2 copper wire ties. Damage to rim. [El.B 15/12/2011]

NB Although named after the island of Curaçao, the name of the ship during the voyage of which this object was collected was HMS Curaçoa. [JC 1 2 2013]

Associated publications

For an account of kava bowls from Western Polynesia, including references to examples in the PRM collections, see 'Kava Bowls from Western Polynesia: A Comparative Study of Bowls from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga' by Valentin Boissonnas (Norwich: University of East Anglia (Sainsbury Research Unit), MA dissertation, 2012). (Copy in RDF: Researchers: Boissonnas.) This object is referred to (with 1933.38.6 and 1933.38.8) on page 16. Boissonnas writes: 'Three other yaqona bowls were said to have been given by Cakobau to Rev. Payne, the chaplain of the Curaçoa, which are now in the Pitt-Rivers [sic] collections.' The author's own image of this bowl is reproduced in black and white as part of figure 23 on page 34. Caption (same page) reads, in part: 'Figure 23. Tānoa bowls with flat rims. PRM 1933.38.7 (Ø 43 cm) was given to Rev. Payne by Cakobau. It is of smaller size and shows tapering legs with a ridge. The bowl is deep and rounded, resulting in an almost 90° angle with the rim.' The bowl is listed under 'Cakobau' in 'Table 2. A list of collectors that were identified to have contributed more than one bowl to the collections of the BM, UCMAA and the PRM. Ibūbūrau dishes are not included in this list' on page 51. [JC 29 6 2013; JC 3 7 2013]

Search terms: Vessel, Ritual and Ceremonial, Narcotic, Bowl, Kava Accessory