item details
Overview
This is a wooden ceremonial paddle from the Austral Islands. Its surface is densely carved with geometric motifs. It is a striking example of woodcarving and indigenous principles of design and composition. However, the cultural role of this kind of paddle in the Austral Islands’ society of the 1800s is unclear.
Significance
Researcher Rhys Richards made a close examination of historical records before 1850 in search of an indigenous or non-European-oriented use for the paddles in the Austral Islands. His investigations revealed no ‘eye-witness accounts of their use or function’. He argues that most of them were made by Austral Islanders in a period of intense production between 1821 and 1842 and used as trade items in their encounters with Europeans (Richards (2012: 141-143).
In 2001, Richards undertook a global census of Austral Islands paddles, locating 850 examples and estimating that there are probably 1000 in museum collections around the world (2012: 143). Pacific art historian Steven Hooper suggests the paddles were ‘perhaps the most collected objects in the Pacific in the first half of the nineteenth century’ (Hooper 2006:216).
Histories of trade
If Richards’ arguments are correct, the paddles mark a short but important period in the history of the Austral Islands people and their neighbours. As the circumstances of the paddles’ production becomes clear, so too do narratives of trade and commerce with the growing number of Europeans visiting the region.
The origins of the paddles highlight the early 19th century transactions that perhaps marked the beginnings of the local tourist trade. This area of activity becomes critical to the region’s economy through the 20th and into the 21st century.
Acquisition history
The acquisition history of this paddle is not recorded.
References
Hooper, S. (2006). Pacific encounters art and divinity in Polynesia 1760 –1860.Wellington: Te Papa Press. 287pp.
Richards, R. (2012). The Austral Islands: history, art and art history. Porirua: Paremata Press. 236pp.