Tribal Art magazine - "Fijian Histories: Chiefs, Valuables, and Exchange" by Steven Hooper

TRIBAL XXIV:1 - Number 94 WINTER 2019 National Museum of Scotland • Helena Rubinstein • Tsangui Masks • The Bangwa Queen • Fiji • F.-H. Lem • Somuk • Jacques Chirac

Quarterly Journal of the Art, Culture, and History of Traditional Peoples and New World Civilizations

Number 94 WINTER 2019

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From a Fijian perspective, the captains of visiting trading ships and naval vessels in the nineteenth century were regarded as European “chiefs,” with authority over their crews and, more importantly, access to riches and resources of great interest to indigenous Fijians. Local chiefs engaged with these visiting chiefs and, in the early decades of the century, two of the most valued trade items imported into Fiji were sperm whale teeth and cloth, both of existing value in the Fijian system of exchange but suddenly available in unprecedented quantities in the case of the former, and of different materials and colors in the case of the latter. Metal tools, muskets, and gunpowder were also in great demand, followed in the 1830s by printed prayer books and bibles, as well as strange furniture produced with curious joinery techniques that found its way into the houses of Fijian chiefs. There was no cash economy in Fiji at that time. Instead, the exchange of services and of

FIG. 1 (below left): Female figure with remains of a turban.

Vanua Levu, Fiji. Before 1840.

Wood, barkcloth. H: 39 cm.

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., inv. E2998; acquired in 1840 during the U.S. Exploring Expedition commanded by Charles Wilkes.

Photo: Donald Hurlbert.

Several images were acquired during the U.S. Exploring Expedition’s visit to Fiji and the circumstances of the acquisition of this image at Bua Bay, Vanua Levu, are known and were recorded by Wilkes (1845: 3: 215): “On the way from Vaturua to Matainole, a piece of consecrated ground was passed, on which were mounds of stones with a rude idol, dressed with a turban and the Feejee hair pins ... a man and a boy ... offered to sell the idol, which was bought for a paper of vermilion.”

Red was a ritually important color in Fiji and vermilion obtained from Europeans exceeded in intensity any local dyes, so it was extremely highly valued at the time.

FIG. 2 (right): Portable temple with double roof.

Fiji. Before 1835.

Coir basketry, wood, shells.

H: 117 cm.

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, inv.

E5037; donated in 1835 by Joseph Winn Jr. Photo: Jeffrey Dykes.

This double-roofed temple has a unique form and is the earliest surviving example of its kind, having been acquired on an early American trading voyage to Fiji, though the precise connection to Joseph Winn has yet to be established. It must have impressed the collector, because bringing it back to the East Coast of the USA undamaged on board ship would have been a far more complex task than bringing the usual souvenirs, such as lengths of barkcloth, skirts, and clubs.

Fijian Histories: Chiefs, Valuables, and Exchange

By Steven Hooper

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FIG. 3 (right): Male figure.

Fiji. Before c. 1865.

Wood, nails. H: 139.7 cm.

Fiji Museum, inv. 74.45; acquired by Anglican missionary William Floyd in Fiji in the 1860s–70s, donated in 1877 to Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand, and later transferred to Fiji Museum in 1974.

Photo: Bruce Southwick.

Anglican, Catholic, and Methodist missionaries were active in Fiji in the nineteenth century, though success was initially slow. Mass conversions to Christianity took place in the 1850s and 1860s, especially after Seru Cakobau, Vunivalu of Bau and the most powerful chief in Fiji, converted in 1854. Images and other equipment associated with preChristian religious practice were either destroyed or traded out.

Missionaries were interested in preserving rather than destroying such things because they were evidence of evangelical success.

valuables (such as whale teeth, barkcloth, mats, fiber skirts, bowls, clubs, spears, and canoes) was how chiefdoms, clans, and families maintained productive relationships within Fiji and with neighboring island groups such as Tonga and Samoa. The more important exchanges, at weddings, funerals, and certain other occasions, were channeled through senior members of the participating exchange partners, often powerful chiefs or the heads of clans.

Ship captains and officers and, in due course, resident missionaries and colonial administrators found that the only way to achieve successful relationships with Fijians was to enter into these exchanges and bring to Fiji things that Fijians wanted, particularly, as noted above, whale teeth, cloth, metal, and muskets. In return, large quantities of Fijian products were exported during the nineteenth century and taken away by visitors. In the early decades, these included sandalwood, sea cucumber, and turtle shell—all of commercial interest to traders—as well as Fijian “curiosities” of all kinds, especially barkcloth, fiber skirts, bowls, clubs, and spears—all things that could be readily made again locally. However, Fijians were reluctant to part with anything made of whale ivory in the first half of the nineteenth century because whale teeth were the greatest of all valuables and hard to come by. Fijians did not hunt whales and had previously been reliant on random strandings to obtain teeth, so at this period they were net importers of whale ivory. As a result, only a few objects made of ivory or inlaid with it are present in the early collections at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem (FIG. 2), the Smithsonian Institution (FIG. 1), and the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, whereas barkcloth, skirts, baskets, and weapons are plentiful. These collections are the result of the visits respectively of American traders (c. 1805–1860), the United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes (1840), and of the French expeditions commanded by Jules Dumont d’Urville (1827, 1838). British visitors, including missionaries from 1835 onward (FIG. 3), Commander Edward Belcher (1840), and Captain Henry Denham (1854–57; FIGS. 4 & 6) also acquired only a few whale ivory pieces in their local exchanges. The missionaries in partic-

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ART ON VIEW FIG. 4 (below): Yaqona (kava) dish in human form.

Fiji. Before 1854.

Wood. H: 34.5 cm.

Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, inv. 1884.65.40; acquired in Fiji by Captain Henry Denham of the British ship HMS Herald in 1854.

Photo: Malcolm Osman.

Captain Henry Denham of the HMS Herald spent well over a year in Fiji in 1854–57 conducting hydrographic surveys of the notoriously dangerous waters in and around the island group. He established close relationships with local chiefs, including Seru Cakobau and Tui Levuka, chief of the developing settlement at Levuka on Ovalau Island. In 1855, Tui Levuka, in a local political maneuver, proposed ceding Ovalau Island to Britain. This came to nothing, but prefigured the later successful effort by Seru Cakobau to cede Fiji to Britain in 1874.

FIG. 5 (below): “The Great Kava Bowl of Fiji.” Before 1865.

Wood, coir. W: 114 cm.

British Museum, inv. Oc.9076; acquired by Commodore Sir William Wiseman, captain of HMS Curaçoa, during his visit to Bau, Fiji, in July 1865.

Photo: Michael Row. This enormous tanoa (yaqona mixing bowl), among the largest in existence, was presented to Commodore Wiseman by Seru Cakobau, Vunivalu of Bau, as part of his developing strategy to form an alliance with the British, in particular with the most powerful chief in the world at that time, Queen Victoria. An unsuccessful attempt to join the British Empire had been made in 1859, but the policy eventually reached fruition in 1874 when Fiji was ceded to Britain, leading to Sir Arthur Gordon being appointed first resident governor. The bowl, with this title, is featured in an engraving in Julius Brenchley’s account of the voyage (1873: 163).

FIG. 6 (left): James Glen Wilson, Feejeean and Tongese canoes getting under weigh at Levuka, July 26, 1855.

21.5 x 47.5 cm (detail).

Private collection, UK. Photo: Michael Row. After the successful campaign against the Chiefdom of Rewa, the fleets of Bau and the King of Tonga are seen off Levuka, Ovalau, where HMS Herald is at anchor. James Glen Wilson’s depictions of his own ship and of the great canoes of Bau and Tonga are extremely well observed.

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FIJI FIG. 7 (right): Length of barkcloth.

Cakaudrove, Fiji. Before 1865.

Paper mulberry bark, local dyes. L: 13 m.

Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery, inv. 61a-122; acquired by Julius Brenchley in Fiji, 26 July–2 August 1865.

Photo: Paul Dixon.

This length of barkcloth was once longer than 13 m, but has been cut at one end. It is of the type known as masi bolabola from Cakaudrove in northeast Fiji, but as HMS Curaçoa visited only Levuka, Bau and Rewa the cloth would have been collected in one of those places and would have been there as a result of regular exchanges between Cakaudrove and those chiefdoms.

FIG. 9 (below): Lambert Ho, garland, 2016.

Fiber, barkcloth, shells, seeds, wool. L: 88 cm.

Private collection, UK. Photo: Adi Buli Nacola.

Decorated barkcloth is now integrated into modern creations such as this elaborate salusalu garland made by designer Lambert Ho in 2016.

FIG. 8 (below): Barkcloth production has continued without interruption in several places in Fiji.

Photo: Steven Hooper.

This sheet from Moce Island in Lau, eastern Fiji, is being presented as a ceremonial gift at the final mortuary ritual for the Tui Nayau, the Paramount Chief of Lau, at Lakeba Island in May 2005. It was made using the same stenciling and rubbing techniques as the long sheet from Cakaudrove exchanged with the British visitors in 1865 (fig. 7).

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ART ON VIEW FIG. 10 (below): Composite breastplate.

Eastern Fiji. Before 1840.

Pearl shell, whale ivory, fiber. W: 28 cm.

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, inv. Z 2730.

Photo: Gordon Brown.

This breastplate was worn by the eminent chief Tanoa Visawaqa, Vunivalu of Bau, when he paid a visit to Charles Wilkes, commander of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, aboard the USS Vincennes in 1840. Alfred Agate, artist on the expedition, made a drawing of Tanoa, later reproduced as an engraving in the publication of the voyage (Wilkes 1845; 3; 56; see fig. 11). Wilkes, who doubtless would have wished to acquire it, did not do so, as Fijians were reluctant to part with whale ivory valuables at that time. It was later acquired by the first resident British Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, in 1875/1876, almost certainly from Tanoa’s son and successor to the Vunivalu title at Bau, Seru Cakobau, as an act of fealty to the local representative of the new paramount chief of Fiji, Queen Victoria.

FIG. 11 (right): “Tanoa, King of Ambau,” engraving by Rawdon, Wright, and Hatch after a drawing by Alfred Agate of Tanoa Visawaqa, Vunivalu of Bau, wearing the composite breastplate shown in fig. 10.

From Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, 1845, vol. 3, p. 56.

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FIG. 12 (right): Necklace of figures and pendants.

Fiji or Tonga. Before 1875/6.

Whale ivory, coir, fiber. L: 9.6 cm (longest figure).

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, inv. Z 2752.

Photo: Jocelyne Dudding.

This unique necklace was acquired in Fiji by European resident J. B. Turner, who transferred it to Governor Sir Arthur Gordon in 1875/76. Its precise origin is not known, but the form of the figures has a closer relation to Fijian wood figure sculpture than to that of Tonga, from where individual ivory figure pendants were also collected.

ular supplied chiefs with whale teeth in order to obtain local produce while also demonstrating their access to divine favor through the control of valuable resources.

However, from about 1860 onward, after mass conversions to Christianity, increasing adoption of European commodities, and a growing interest in forging an alliance with the British, Fijian chiefs were deploying diplomatic gifts (FIGS. 5,7, & 10) and beginning to sell or trade ivory objects (FIG. 12) as well as redundant religious paraphernalia such as priests’ yaqona (kava) bowls and images, though some examples of these had already been traded out (FIGS. 1,3, & 4). While many traditional skills were maintained, including the manufacture of barkcloth, mats, baskets, regular yaqona bowls, and canoes, the late nineteenth century saw Fijians discard many things associated with pre-Christian religion or transfer them into European hands. These are now preserved in museums and collections in Fiji and overseas.

Included in the expanded version of the exhibition Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific coming this winter to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are a large number of objects obtained during exchanges in the nineteenth century. The acquisition details of many are now lost, but for a surprisingly large number the collection history is known, including, in some rare cases, information about not only the European collector but also the Fijian provider (FIGS. 10 & 15).

Through these remarkable objects we can track the developing relationships between Fijians and visitors up to and beyond the cession of Fiji by a number of powerful chiefs to Queen Victoria in 1874, when it became part of the British Empire. This article highlights several artworks that embody how Fijians were endeavoring to both manage and take advantage of those relationships. These treasures, now in museums worldwide, as well as in the Fiji Museum, are serving as vehicles for new relationships between Fijians and their current caretakers and provide a rich resource for Fijians and others who wish to understand some of the micro-histories that formed such an important part of the history of Fiji in the nineteenth century.

Fiji: Art and Life in the Pacific December 15, 2019–July 19, 2020 Los Angeles County Museum of Art lacma.org September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021 Peabody Essex Museum, Salem pem.org Fiji Art & Life in the Pacific

By Steven Hooper Published in English by the Fiji Museum, Suva, and the University of East Anglia, Norwich, 2016.

288 pages, fully illustrated in color. $40, softcover.

This article results from the AHRC-funded research project Fijian Art (grant AH/1003622/1).

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ART ON VIEW FIG. 13 (left): Ceremonial staff/club.

Tonga. Before 1875/6.

Wood, whale ivory. L: 117 cm.

Private collection, UK. Photo courtesy of the lender.

This superb ivory-inlaid club has a Tongan form but was acquired

by Governor Sir Arthur Gordon or a member of his staff in Fiji in 1875/76 because it was painted at Government House in Fiji in 1876

by Constance Gordon Cumming, a guest at that time (see fig.

14). Such a valuable chiefly item would most probably have been presented to the newly arrived Governor by the King of Tonga or by Enele Ma’afu’otu’itonga, the powerful Tongan chief whose expansionist political ambitions in Fiji had been thwarted by the arrival of the British.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brenchley, Julius L., 1873. Jottings During the Cruise of H.M.S. Curaçoa ... . 2 vols. London: Longmans Green.

Clunie, Fergus, 1986. Yalo i Viti: a Fiji Museum Catalogue.

Suva: Fiji Museum.

Herle, Anita and Lucie Carreau, 2013. Chiefs & Governors: Art and Power in Fiji. Cambridge: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Hooper, Steven, 2016. Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific. Suva: Fiji Museum, and Norwich: University of East Anglia.

———, 2013. ”‘Supreme among Our Valuables’: Whale Teeth Tabua, Chiefship and Power in Eastern Fiji.” Journal of the Polynesian Society, 122(2): 103–160.

Jacobs, Karen, 2019. This Is Not a Grass Skirt: On Fibre Skirts (liku) and Female Tattooing (veiqia) in Nineteenth Century Fiji. Leiden: Sidestone Press.

Von Hügel, Anatole, 1990. The Fiji Journals of Baron Anatole Von Hügel, 1875–1877. Jane Roth and Steven Hooper (eds.). Suva: Fiji Museum.

Wilkes, Charles, 1845. Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition ... . 5 vols. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.

FIG. 14 (above): Constance Frederica GordonCumming, Two breastplates and a club, 1876.

FIG. 15 (right): Spear with elaborate binding and carved foreshaft.

Before 1876.

Watercolor on paper.

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, inv. P.98874.GCUM. Photo: Lucie Carreau.

Wood, coir. L: 375 cm (detail).

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, inv. Z 3954.

Photo: Josh Murfitt.

This watercolor, painted at Government House in Fiji in 1876, illustrates the Tongan-style club shown in fig. 13 and two breastplates, the whereabouts of which are currently unknown. The one on the right is notable because of its incorporation of Christian imagery.

This spear was won by Baron Anatole von Hügel on 5 October 1876 in a bet with the owner, Epeli Nailatikau, eldest son of Seru Cakobau, Vunivalu of Bau, about the speed of Epeli’s sailing canoe. The Baron recorded in his diary: “I made a bet with the Roko [Epeli Nailatikau] to pay him five shillings if we were in Bau by 5 p.m.—he is default to give me his own carved spear. We did not get in at five, but about half an hour after” (von Hügel 1990: 440–41).

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FIJI LACMA

The New Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is in transition, with the construction of its long-awaited new building for its permanent collection scheduled to begin in early 2020. Riding the momentum of a decade of rapid growth, LACMA is working with Pritzker Prize–winning architect Peter Zumthor to create galleries for its wide-ranging holdings. The project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2023 and the museum will open in 2024. Extending across Wilshire Boulevard, the horizontal design of the new galleries will provide a more engaging and flexible approach for displaying art.

In the meantime, more than 100,000 square feet of gallery space will be programmed for exhibition and permanent collection displays in its two existing buildings, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum and the Resnick Pavilion, both part of the existing LACMA campus and unaffected by the new construction. In addition, LACMA will be developing programming at partner museums located in Southern California, as well as maintaining an ambitious program of exhibitions and loans at international sites.

Architectural renderings of the new building for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, designed by Peter Zumthor and scheduled to be open in 2024.

Images courtesy of LACMA.

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