109 FIG. 9 (below): Presentation whale tooth, tabua. Fiji. Early–mid 19th century. Sperm whale tooth. L: 24 cm. Presented to Sir Arthur Gordon at Wala, Viti Levu, 3 August 1876. Cambridge, MAA, inv. 1918.213.68. their places of manufacture to exchange partners near and far, and sometimes along chains of exchange partners as diplomatic gifts, pledges of allegiance, or tokens of kinship solidarity. In this way, an ornament, a bowl, or a club might pass through several hands before being used for its explicit purpose. This poses problems for collectors and curators who wish to establish origin, since place of collection, if known, was seldom the place of manufacture. “ORNAMENTS,” GIFTS, REGALIA We know from the accounts of Cook’s voyages in nearby Tonga (where they met visiting Fijians and collected Fiji-made things), and from Bligh in Fijian waters in 1792, that breast ornaments were made of single plates of pearl shell (fi g. 3) and necklaces were of shell beads and bird bones with small pendants of sperm whale ivory. No breastplates or necklaces of ivory were reported, depicted, or collected. This is not surprising, because although whale ivory was highly valued in Fiji and Tonga where sperm whales were plentiful, the islanders did not hunt them and so were dependent upon occasional strandings. An event of this kind was witnessed by William Mariner during his four-year sojourn in Tonga in 1806–10. He saw teeth eagerly cut from a putrefying whale carcass on the reef and noted their exchange value with Fijians, who supplied sandalwood, red feathers, and other valuable things to Tonga. Fergus Clunie and I have shown how at this period whale teeth were associated with divine power and served as shrines for gods both in Tonga and Fiji. Some were transformed FIG. 10 (below): Presentation tooth, tabua buli, of elephant ivory carved in crescent form and smoked and oiled to become “red,” damudamu. Fiji. Early 19th century. Elephant ivory, coir. L: 16.2 cm. Collected by Julius Brenchley in Fiji on HMS Curaçoa, 1865. Private collection. In addition to sperm whale teeth, Indian elephant tusks, usually cut into sections, also were taken to Fiji by early traders.
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