TEMEHARO By David Shaw King In prehistoric central Polynesia, images of the principal gods were the most signifi cant of all objects. These were the major idols and were supremely sacred. They were richly adorned with feathers and enclosed in multiple layers of carefully made barkcloth and intricate 118 fi ber wrappings. They were kept in special god houses and guarded by priests. As missionary William Ellis described god images, “Into these they supposed the god entered at certain seasons, or in answer to the prayers of the priests. During this indwelling of the gods, they imagined even the images were very powerful: but when the spirit had departed, though they were among the most sacred things, their extraordinary powers were gone.”1 These objects were brought out only for the most important events. Their display could occasion human sacrifi ce, even warfare. The most important god in Tahiti was ‘Oro. The appearances of the principal Polynesian idols were entirely alien to the European eye. In Tahiti in 1769 during Cook’s fi rst voyage, all Joseph Banks could say about ‘Oro was that it was “a parsel about 5 feet long and one thick wrappd up in matts.”2 Cook’s own description: “This is a thing made of the twisted fi bres of the husk of the coca-nut, shaped something like a large fi d.”3 ‘Oro images perplexed the missionaries of the London Missionary Society (LMS) as well: “The public will no doubt feel much disappointed on the view of these despicable idols. ... The idols themselves ... bear no resemblance whatever to the human form ... these convey no idea whatever of an animated being, and we are totally at a loss to account for their form.”4 Their perplexity was justifi able—most major district and national gods of central Polynesia took forms completely foreign to Europeans. Anthropomorphic fi gural images in Polynesia generally represented less important beings, such as spirits or talismans. FIG. 2 (left): Portrait of Pomare I (also known as Vairaatoa, O’too, Tu, Tynah), 1777. Oil on canvas on board. 36.2 x 28 cm. Alexander Turnbull Library, G-697. John Webber was the artist on Cook’s third voyage and painted this portrait one unrecorded day in September 1777 at Cook’s request. Pomare asked that a portrait of Cook be painted for himself in return. John Watts was a midshipman on the Resolution on this voyage and was on Tahiti when this portrait was painted. Having met Pomare I, Watts returned to Tahiti twelve years later with the gift of red feathers that were used to adorn Temeharo. FIG. 3 (right): Portrait of Pomare II. Engraving after a drawing by William Ellis. From William Ellis, Polynesian Researches During a Residence of Nearly Eight Years in the Society and Sandwich Islands, 1831. Pomare II, the second Tahitian paramount chief of the Pomare dynasty, was not an especially effective leader. He renounced idolatry by 1809, albeit to gain muskets and powder, and was baptized in July 1812. His suggestion to send his idols to London proved to be a turning point in missionary perceptions, which led to the preservation of a signifi cant number of religious artifacts from throughout Polynesia. OBJECT history
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