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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN COLLECTION
Lot 21
Stilt Step, Marquesas Islands
21 November – 5 December 2024, 12:00 PST
Online, Los AngelesUS$10,000 - US$15,000
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Stilt Step, Marquesas Islands
tapuva'e
Wood (probably from the mi'o tree)
Height 13 1/2in (34.2cm)
Provenance
Private English Collection
Thence by descent
Bonhams, San Francisco, 5 May 2015, Lot 111
Private Collection, United States
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."
Finely carved in hardwood, depicting a traditional tiki figure with his hands resting on his stomach, the large forehead gradually blending into the bottom of the elegantly curved footrest, highlighted with finely incised leaf pattern; incised linear decoration to the footrest portion of the step, the torso, legs and feet, with only the right hip with a spiral design; fine proportions with heavily adzed dark brown patina evident of a highly-skilled artist working with stone and shell tools, most likely between the latter half of the 18th century or early 19th century; remnant of old collection label affixed to front below feet.
Wood (probably from the mi'o tree)
Height 13 1/2in (34.2cm)
Provenance
Private English Collection
Thence by descent
Bonhams, San Francisco, 5 May 2015, Lot 111
Private Collection, United States
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."
Finely carved in hardwood, depicting a traditional tiki figure with his hands resting on his stomach, the large forehead gradually blending into the bottom of the elegantly curved footrest, highlighted with finely incised leaf pattern; incised linear decoration to the footrest portion of the step, the torso, legs and feet, with only the right hip with a spiral design; fine proportions with heavily adzed dark brown patina evident of a highly-skilled artist working with stone and shell tools, most likely between the latter half of the 18th century or early 19th century; remnant of old collection label affixed to front below feet.
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