THE MARQUESAS COLLECTION AT MEN 113 from the beginning, of the 164 inventory numbers, objects attributed to the Marquesas accounted for 157 of them. In other words, the clear majority of the collection. One thing O’Reilly fails to mention is the presence of ten or so objects that List A describes as being “of modern origin,” made of non-traditional materials, non-functional, and/or too exuberantly decorated, the “pair of stilt steps, exact reproductions of the old ones that can no longer be found,” or the six model canoes that are curios. The collection is nonetheless important not only for the number of objects in it, but for its quality as well. Several objects are especially noteworthy, such as the following, for which we cite the descriptions from List A: • V.1 fi g. 3 “Marquesan idol from Atuana. This statue represents the god “Pota,” the benevolent deity, venerated as such at the Atuana marae on Hiva Oa Island until 1909. This marae, a stone platform with the idol on it, was considered a sacred place and the natives did not dare approach it until after certain rituals had been performed and certain words had been pronounced. Although the deity fi gure was removed in 1909, the superstition persists to this day.” • V.2 fi g. 17 “O-Moa Marquesan idol (Fatu Hiva Island). A god much feared by the island’s inhabitants; its name is supposed to be Taneheke; it was removed in 1902. The symmetry of the ears in relation to the head is noteworthy, and was appreciated by Gauguin.” • V.13 fi g. 15 “‘Pae Viea’ sic. should be Pae Kea, authentic diadem that appears to date to the eighteenth century, a unique piece, sculpted with stone tools.” • V.24.a–b fi g. 18 “Funerary urn, authentic, dating to the eighteenth century.” There is no doubt that the Western history of exotic objects, which is just beginning to be told, still holds many fascinating surprises in store. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are truly thankful for the information with which our colleagues from all over the world so kindly provided us, and we wish to express our gratitude to † Roger Neich (War Memorial Museum, Auckland), Jeremy Coote (Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford), Jill Hasell (The British Museum, London), Brad Evans (Bishop Museum, Honolulu), and Sally-Anne Coupar (Hunterian Museum, Glasgow), Anahera Rawiri (Auckland), as well as Robert Hales (London), owner of the Oldman archives, and, fi nally, to Hélène Guiot and Marie- Noëlle Ottino-Garanger. NOTES 1. The Museum’s Oceanic holdings were more or less frozen at the end of the First World War, and only a few sporadic additions were made after that. As far as the Marquesas Islands are concerned, with the exception of one piece donated in 1910 as part of a group of various objects in varying states of preservation by Émile Petitot, parish priest of Mareuil-lès-Meaux, and a fragment of an ornament given by Alfred Métraux’s wife in 1935, two objects were purchased from an antique shop in Lausanne, and samples of raw materials were supplied for study purposes by Judit Antoni on July 28, 1997. 2. Adrienne Kaeppler, letter dated February 24, 1990; Stephan Augustin, personal communication at Herrrenhut on September 16, 1994. 3. Knapp’s successor after his sudden death on August 20, 1921. 4. At the time, all of the museums were centered around the Collège Latin. After having shared space with the Musée de la Peinture, the Musée Ethnographique would get its own building and its own separate budget in 1904 (Souvenirs 1905). 5. Van Gennep 1914: 34–35, fi gs. 35–36; Orliac 2002: 192–195; Kaeppler: 2003. 6. Personal record, correspondence in the Coulon archive. 7. Probably the source of the name “Favarger Simon,” subsequently replaced by his married name, “Favarger-Bourgeois.” 8. He was also interested in the arts, and in 1886 he and his wife contributed to the Meuron Société Maximilien’s acquisition of Charles Gleyre’s painting Hercule aux pieds d’Omphale (MAHN AP 86), which had formerly belonged to banker Fritz Berthoud. His widow continued this patronage, and she donated a hematite (AP 3459) to the museum in 1889. After his death and that of his wife, the museum received two paintings (AP 288 and AP 290) in 1891 (Peintures et Dessins 2012: 186–187, 260–261, 262–263). The next year, three objects from South FIG. 14 (bottom left): Original photo from the Oldman Collection: Second from left is the Tahitian ti’i from the Krajewski Collection (marked “A”) and at right, one in white coral (marked “D”). MEN archives. FIG. 15 (top): Chief’s diadem, paekaha. Marquesas Islands. 18th century. Bone, turtle shell, pearl shell buttons, shell. H: 10 cm. MEN V.13 (Krajewski Collection). Photo © A. Germond, Neuchâtel.
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