FEATURE 122 FIGS. 6a, b, and c: Rarotonga staff gods from the Oldman Collection. From W. O. Oldman, The Oldman Collection of Polynesian Artifacts. (Memoirs of the Polynesian Society, vol. 15), Polynesian Society, New Plymouth, 1943, plates 1, 2, and 3. Numbers 433 (top and bottom elements), 434, and 435 (top and bottom elements) were bought by Oldman from Little on 2 November 1921, 29 April 1922, and 22 July 1922, respectively. All are said to be ex William Ellis. Two of these are now in the collection of the Canterbury Museum, New Zealand. The location of the third is presently unknown. had a shop there, probably selling furniture and brica brac. Married on 12 April 1898, his wife, Maria, let the rooms above in the summer. Some years later she stated that from 1901 she had to take in lodgers since he showed a strong disinclination to contribute to the upkeep of the home. Fuller tells us how Little became involved in the sale of “native curios” through a chance encounter with J. B. Russell. Once his business was established, his printed letterhead read: “Edward Little, Dealer in Savage Weapons, Curios, Skins, Horns, Ivory, &c.” As Fuller notes, he advertised in publications like Exchange and Mart, which ran classifi ed advertisements. In its January 1905 edition, the column called “Curiosities” contains Little’s listing, which reads: “Savage Weapons. Cheap. Little. Bexley-terrace. Torquay.” While Little apparently found this to be a profi table endeavor, it appears that when he failed to fi nd enough “curios,” he simply employed the skills he presumably developed from restoring furniture and carved more himself, fi nding suitable wood from the ships in nearby Bristol. We know that in addition to the fake pieces he is remembered for, Little sold much genuine material and some of this was of great signifi cance, including some remarkable Rarotonga objects that he sold to William Oldman (fi gs. 4, 5, 6a–c). His scope went beyond the simple categories of real and fake. In addition to carving pieces from scratch, Little’s business also involved embellishing existing specimens and even selling pieces he had stolen from museums. He did most of his business through the mail by sending lists of material he had available for sale and, as a result, most of his clients never saw him. No known photos of him survive. Fuller apparently was one of the clients who never met Little in person and observed that he seemed to avoid meeting his customers.5 Fuller’s fi rst purchases FIG. 7 (lower right): W. O. Oldman (1879– 1949) in Brixton, UK, with objects from the Northwest Coast, New Zealand, the Torres Strait Islands, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, Benin, and Asia. C. 1930. Gelatin silver print. 20.6 x 15.2 cm. British Museum, inv. Am,B44.27Am,B44.27. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
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