Post #311723 by Cammo on Fri, Jun 8, 2007 4:24 AM

I still think it's creepy as hell, but I'll admit - maybe that's my ethnocentric point of view.

Here's a cool resource I've been using for years, ABE Book Search, one of the best search engines for used books, this configuration is arranged from lowest to highest price;

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchEntry?errorcode=1

Often the books are way cheaper than ebay final sales. Good hunting.

It's hard nailing the history of lots of these items, without the info right there in front of you - it's almost impossible to take notes in a museum that link up with your shots.

I've noticed some patterns emerging, though . . .

1. Museums rarely post dates of these carvings. They get all the other info right, but exact dates are slippery. Sometimes the dates are listed as "Pre 1840" which really doesn't say much.

2. The actual carver is never identified. The region, yes, tribe, yeah, but no names. This happens right up to pretty recent times.

3. These carvings are often a design handed down from older times, each tribe has certain standardized styles they duplicate. So we really don't know how old the originals truly are, they go way back.

4. Most of the older pieces were almost uniformly collected by Priests and Reverands, which kind of goes against the religious war on the natives story. I think the early collectors were more open minded, and grabbed some good stuff to show off, and it was the later explorers and colonizers that decimated the arts, maybe entirely for commercial resons. Ultimately ironic, because the most valuable items coming from the Pacific are it's arts.

5. Museums try to be multicultural and respectful, except with HOW they acquired these pieces in the first place. And you'll notice the little explanation boxes are always in English, not in Samoan, etc.