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Overview
Ti'i ke'a (human images)
Ti'i are found frequently in the carved historical stonework of the Marquesas Islands, and range in size from the monumental to the very small and portable. They featured on ancient me‘ae (sacred ceremonial sites), where they could be presented to etua (ancestral deities). Ti'i were also found in private households, where they were treasured personal items with sacred qualities (Kjellgren & Ivory 2005:41).
Images of ti'i continued to be made in the Society and Marquesas islands throughout the twentieth century and to the present day. Although their religious significance has diminished since the nineteenth century and with the introduction of Christianity, they remain powerful signifiers of contemporary cultural identities in the region. They decorate tourist resorts and are sold as souvenir items, and images of tiki are printed on pareu (wrap-around garment) and shirts, and appear on tattooed bodies.
Replicas on display
The first objects related to the Marquesas and acquired by the Colonial Museum were a group of plaster casts taken of stone sculptures called ti'i ke‘a (human images) and painted to resemble the stone originals (Te Papa FE000302/1–4
This is one of several plaster ti'i ke‘a in Te Papa’s collection made in the 1880s. In the Twenty-second annual report of the Colonial Museum and Laboratory, mention is made of a collection of ‘models, moulds and casts’ produced for the Indian and Colonial Exhibition held in London in 1886. Four casts are listed, two described as ‘Human Figure’ and two as ‘Two Human Figures, attached by their backs’. The records indicate that the originals were in the Sir George Grey collection and that ‘extra copies can be made, which will be available for exchange’ (Hector 1887: 33 and 36).
It appears that the moulds and subsequent casts were created at the instigation of the Colonial Museum director, Sir James Hector. He was a principal organiser of the New Zealand contribution to the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, which included a Mäori pataka (storehouse) Te Takinga, along with numerous other taonga Mäori from the Colonial Museum.
In the museum’s annual report for the following year (1887–88), two casts of basalt human figures from the Marquesas are listed as being sent by the Colonial Museum to Melbourne for display in the New Zealand court of the Centennial International Exhibition (1888) (Hector 1889: 6). The Marquesan ti'i ke‘a may have been selected for exhibition because of their visual affinities to Mäori hei tiki and other similar artefacts. This would have pointed to the cultural connection between East Polynesia and New Zealand. However, the catalogues for the London and Melbourne exhibitions do not provide evidence to support this.
Acquisition
Although this ti'i ke‘a is a cast, it is interesting to note their selection for the exhibition and their subsequent registration (around 1912) into the museum’s collection.
Reference
Mallon, Sean, and Grace Hutton. 2013. “Collecting, Exhibiting and Engaging with East Polynesia at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.” Tuhinga 24: 105–37