Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand

Peue 'ei/Peue koi`o (headdress)

Object | Part of Pacific Cultures collection

item details

NamePeue 'ei/Peue koi`o (headdress)
ProductionUnknown; 1800s; Marquesas Islands
Classificationheaddresses, ornaments
Materialssennit, shell (animal material), tooth
DimensionsOverall: 320mm (width), 50mm (height)
Registration NumberOL000208/1
Credit lineOldman Collection. Gift of the New Zealand Government, 1992

Overview

Adornments from the Marquesas

Marquesan adornments were all worn on the head, the most tapu (sacred) part of the body and the site of a person’s mana (prestige). 

Headdresses such as the uhikana and the pae‘kaha were chiefly adornments worn by men. Peue‘ei, crowns of porpoise or dolphin teeth and European glass beads, were made exclusively on the island of Ua Pou and were worn by women. 

Ear adornments signalled adulthood. The ear-piecing ceremony took place when a child was aged between 6 and 10. A tukua (specialist) used a ta‘a tui i te puaina (ear piercer), which was passed down through families. The ta‘a tui i te puaina on display in Adorned features a carved tiki (pendant in human form).