ART on view the celebration and had ritual signifi cance. These performances 80 were accompanied by the beating of drums, eight of which are included in the exhibition. Special, sacred competitions on stilts (vaeake) had an important place in the funeral rites accompanying feasts of prestigious people. They took the form of combat between two people, the objective being to knock one’s adversary to the ground. The carved stilt steps, tapuvae, that were the foot supports for these, were collected in large numbers and are represented in the exhibition by two complete stilts and nine steps, four of which were collected by the Russian expedition that visited the Marquesas in 1804. The installation continues with a section on the objects worn or carried by high-ranking Marquesans to adorn their bodies and signal their rank and prestige. Marquesans were the most extensively and, one could argue, most exquisitely tattooed of all Polynesian peoples. This is documented in numerous drawings from FIGS. 8 and 9 (right and below): Two views of a kava bowl, tanoa. Marquesas Islands. Early 19th century. Wood. H: 21 cm. Donated by Prince Roland Bonaparte. Musée du Quai Branly, inv. 71.1887.31.9. © MQB. Photo: Patrick Gries, Bruno Descoings. FIG. 7 (left): Covered vessel, kotuè, ôtuè. Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. Early 19th century. Wood. H: 19 cm. Collected by Edmond de Ginoux de la Coche between 1843 and 1845 or 1848. Musée de la Castre, Cannes, inv. 2008.0.241.1–2. © Musée de la Castre, Cannes. Photo: Claude Germain.
T80E
To see the actual publication please follow the link above