Artifact Number:
1978.271.001
Object:
Drum
Pahu 'upa 'upa
Material:
plant (coconut), skin (shark)
Dimensions:
46 x 27 x 27 cm
Origin:
Tahiti, Society Islands, Polynesia
Comments:
Drum. Dark brown coconut wood, well polished. Drum head resembles shark skin and extends over the sides, held on by 15 strands of braided sennit, tied at the base. Base has 7 cut out rectangles with 7 small legs between the base and body. Legs are concave facing outward, as is the base.
Only three other similar drums are at present known to exist (per Accession file).
(Duty Free Shoppers provided BPBM funds -- Bid on by Hewett at the request of BPBM with $15,000 taken from reside of Hooper Auction (ca. $1,400); Wright bowl exchange (ca. $5,000) and Ethnology Purchase Fund (4-xxx-31-4797). Amount over $15,000 was a gift from Mr. Hewett. -- Purchased as Lot 208 at the George Ortiz Auction, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 29 June 1978. -- Per Ortiz auction catalog: "Collected during a tour of mission stations by Rev. George Bennet, a member of the London Missionary Society who was a resident in Polynesia, 1821-24")
Collection Name:
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