Ulucavu (headdress of human hair or wig)

item details

NameUlucavu (headdress of human hair or wig)

ProductionUnknown; maker/artist; 1800s; Fiji

Classificationwigs, hairwork, headdresses

Materialshuman hair, cane

DimensionsOverall: 300mm (width), 400mm (length), 320mm (depth)

Registration NumberFE008366

Credit lineGift of the Wellcome Museum, 1952

Overview

This is an ulucavu, a wig made from human hair. It originates from Fiji and was probably made in the late 1800s and worn by men as part of mourning rites and as an item of dress.

There are several words associated with ulucave. The term ulumate refers to the practice of human hair wig making but it translates as “dead head” with one researcher suggesting that the makers of ulumate took the hair from deceased people.

The term uluvati refers to a particular type of wig with "vati” a reference to the light frame made from cane upon which these wigs were constructed. All other wigs were formed on a braided sennit foundation.

References

Ewins, Roderick (2007) The perils of ethnographic provenance: the documentation of the Johnson Fiji Collection in the South Australian Museum in Susan Cochrane and Max Quanchi (eds) Hunting the Collectors: Pacific Collections in Australian Museums, Art Galleries and Archives page 53.

Kamali, D,. Monolagi, J,. Maiava,. O (2023) The Ulumate Project : Sacredness of Human Hair. Auckland: The (Un)registered Press.