Ta (tattooing implement)

item details

NameTa (tattooing implement)

ProductionUnknown; 1700s; Society Islands

Classificationtattooing instruments, ceremonial objects

Materialswood, plant fibre, bone

DimensionsOverall: 60mm (width), 190mm (length), 15mm (depth)

Registration NumberFE003010

Credit lineGift of The Imperial Institute, 1955

Overview

This ta (tattooing implement) is from the Society Islands. It comprises a small blade attached to a short wooden handle with fibre cord. The blade is made from small sections of boar tusk or bone. These sections have a row of very fine sharp teeth cut into them.

Usage
When a tattooist is working on a tattoo he will dip the blade in a reservoir containing pigment. The pigment is drawn into the toothed edge of the blade. Using a light mallet, the tattooist then taps the back of the tattooing tool, perforating the surface of the skin and depositing the pigment beneath it.

Acquisition
This particular ta may have been collected by English explorer Captain James Cook during his voyages into the Pacific in the late 1700s. It is known to have been in the possession of Queen Victoria and to have been given to the Imperial Institute in London, England, by Edward VII. In 1955, it was gifted to the Dominion Museum (Te Papa's predecessor) as part of an important collection of artefacts from the Imperial Institute.