Matau (fishhook)

Very large hooks such as this one are usually described as shark hooks, but they were probably used mainly to catch mahimahi (dolphin fish), one of the most sought after quarries of Tahitian fishermen.

Materials and decoration techniques
No pearl shell is large or strong enough for a complete hook of this size. The Tahitians, like the Māori, solved the problem of making large hooks by attaching a shell or bone point to a curved wooden shank. In this example a heavy U-shaped piece of wood has been lashed to an inwardly turned point of pearl shell. There is a knob on the outer side of the shank leg to facilitate the lashing. The main lashing of both the point leg and the snood is plaited sennit. The line is a mixture of sennit and a fine white fibre, now much frayed, which is also visible at the base of the snood.

Significance
This hook is part of the Imperial Institute collection of items thought to have been collected during English explorer Captain James Cook's first and second voyages into the Pacific, and it was possibly given by Cook himself to King George III. Members of Cook's Pacific expeditions collected a large number of fishhooks. It seems the Europeans were intrigued by the beauty and functionality of these readily portable souvenirs.