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Lot 286
Stilt Step, Marquesas Islands
11 November 2019, 15:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$18,825 inc. premium
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Stilt Step, Marquesas Islands
tapuvai
height 17 1/2in (43.7cm)
Provenance
Dr. Perfect
James T. Hooper Collection, London/Arundel (No. 435 written on lower back)
Christie's, London, 3 July 1990
Bonhams, London, 23 June 1992
Richard I.M. Kelton Collection, Marina del Rey, California
Published
Phelps, Steven, Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas - The James Hooper Collection, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1976, p. 103, pl. 52, figure 435
According to Diane M. Pelrine (Affinities of Form, Prestel-Verlag, Munich - New York, 1996, p. 84), "Stilt games in the Marquesas Islands consisted of races and competitions in which one man would try to knock down his opponent by balancing on one stilt while using the other to strike the stilts of his rival. Particularly skillful stilt-walkers could also entertain by performing somersaults and other acrobatics. Stilt contests, along with singing and dancing, are said to have been the major entertainment at koina and mau, festivals marking special events such as weddings, milestones in the lives of children from important families, and the death of a chief or a tau'a, a priest through whom the gods were believed to speak (Landsdorff 1813, 1: 136; Handy 1923, 218; Ferdon 1993, 68). Thus, stilt contests were entertaining, but many were also sacred activities (Handy 1927, 306-7). They were believed to be a means of attracting the attention of deities, as well as a demonstration of the mana of the individual contestants and the families and groups they represented.
While stilt contests were also popular in other parts of Polynesia, such as the Society Islands, Hawaii, and New Zealand, only on the Marquesas did the stilts themselves become an art form."
height 17 1/2in (43.7cm)
Provenance
Dr. Perfect
James T. Hooper Collection, London/Arundel (No. 435 written on lower back)
Christie's, London, 3 July 1990
Bonhams, London, 23 June 1992
Richard I.M. Kelton Collection, Marina del Rey, California
Published
Phelps, Steven, Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas - The James Hooper Collection, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1976, p. 103, pl. 52, figure 435
According to Diane M. Pelrine (Affinities of Form, Prestel-Verlag, Munich - New York, 1996, p. 84), "Stilt games in the Marquesas Islands consisted of races and competitions in which one man would try to knock down his opponent by balancing on one stilt while using the other to strike the stilts of his rival. Particularly skillful stilt-walkers could also entertain by performing somersaults and other acrobatics. Stilt contests, along with singing and dancing, are said to have been the major entertainment at koina and mau, festivals marking special events such as weddings, milestones in the lives of children from important families, and the death of a chief or a tau'a, a priest through whom the gods were believed to speak (Landsdorff 1813, 1: 136; Handy 1923, 218; Ferdon 1993, 68). Thus, stilt contests were entertaining, but many were also sacred activities (Handy 1927, 306-7). They were believed to be a means of attracting the attention of deities, as well as a demonstration of the mana of the individual contestants and the families and groups they represented.
While stilt contests were also popular in other parts of Polynesia, such as the Society Islands, Hawaii, and New Zealand, only on the Marquesas did the stilts themselves become an art form."
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