Post #730048 by Club Nouméa on Tue, Oct 21, 2014 4:55 AM

Hello BigBro - stop giving the plot away... :)

It is true that the Tahitians were not well-known for tiki carvings, although they did exist.

Traditional Tahitian society was oriented more towards the arts of poetry, oratory, theatre and dance than sculpture and figurative representations but, all things said and done, being Polynesian, it did have tikis (or "ti'i" as they are known in Tahitian). They were however not abundant and, also being sacred, tended neither to be shown to visiting Europeans like Cook and Bougainville, nor given to them as gifts.

Very few survive, although they are held in the collections of various European museums. Here is an image of a female wooden figure held in the British Museum:

Canoe ornament and carving, also from the British Museum:

Wooden fly whisk handle (British Museum):

(Images from Art ancien de Tahiti, by Anne Lavondès: Dossier 1, Société des Océanistes, Paris 1968.)

And here is a two-headed figure also held in the British Museum collected by Lieutenant Sampson Jervois of HMS Dauntless, which called into Matavai Bay, Tahiti in 1822:

(photo from The British Museum website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/t/two-headed_figure.aspx )

Although they are few and far between, and were carved in recent times, there is the occasional authentic Tahitian tiki on Tahiti. Here is one down on the waterfront in Papeete, just behind the tourist information centre:

It is clear what it was inspired by....

But as we shall see, there are a fair number of tiki ring-ins and imposters populating the landscape on Tahiti, no matter how old and authentic they may look in situ:

While these fellows at Arahurahu marae on the west coast of Tahiti Nui may look right at home, they are in fact strangers in a strange land. More to follow....

Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas !

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2014-10-27 01:35 ]