item details
Overview
This helu, an ornamental comb from Tonga (left), consists of 20 segments of dried coconut-leaf midrib, bound together by a decorative lashing of fine coconut fibre and possibly horse hair.
Usage
Such combs would be worn projecting upright at the back of the head or as beard ornaments, with the decorative handle left protruding. Distinguished chiefs wore combs decorated with fine designs and feathers; they had attendants whose sole responsibility was to look after their hair.
Acquisition history
This helu may be one of several items associated with the voyages of English explorer James Cook in the late 1700s.William Anderson, the surgeon on Cook's third voyage, noted that Tongan women made cloth, mats, many varieties of basket, and 'vast numbers' of combs. This comb is part of a collection which had been in the possession of Queen Victoria and was given to the Imperial Institute (now the Commonwealth Institute) 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.