The Austral Islands: History, Art and Art History The Austral Islands: History, Art and Art History By Rhys Richards Over Half The Global Total Examined by Hand: In 2020 I made a global tour of museums in the UK, USA, and Pacific examining, handling and recording 254 Austral Islands ‘paddles’ in 22 British museums, 183 more in eight big collections in the USA, and 131 in Australia and New Zealand, plus a further 142 suitable photographs and illustrations. This I estimated to be a very large sample, perhaps two thirds of the surviving items globally. These are paddle-shaped, but their sizes are too extreme and their shafts too weak, so they are not functional paddles. There is an almost total lack of social context. Indeed so little knowledge survives of the traditional culture and lifestyles of the local people before foreigners arrived, that their original name of these so-called ‘paddles’ is lost forever. Perhaps it was hoe as in Tahiti where some ‘paddles’ were later traded to foreign visitors. Highly decorated and intricately carved, two ‘paddles’ auctioned in 1827 were described as ‘most exquisitely carved, used on state occasions in the canoes of the king of Raivavai.’ Another was given to a captain as a gift, while others were proffered to visitors who were ‘oppressed by the importunity of the crowd.’ This suggests there was no chiefly monopoly of the ‘paddles.’ They seem to have been made only on Raivavae and Tubuai with no record on the other Austral Islands, or on Mangaia in the Cook Islands. Between 1821 and 1842 the Austral islands suffered a massive 90% depopulation through foreign diseases. In addition, most of the peoples’ former religious practices were halted and exterminated by repressive resident missionaries, mainly Tahitians. With this strict Christian overlay, whatever sacredness the carved motifs might have had before 1821, would no longer apply among the few surviving carvers. It seems that most ‘paddles’ were made in the 1820s and 1830s, (at least 66 were exported in 1826 alone,) and that production apparently halted after 1842. The carvers did not adopt metal tools like axes, saws and planes that would have greatly facilitated the massive wood reduction necessary to trim tree trunks into plank-like templates for ‘paddle’ making, but even when foreign iron was available they continued to use only a shark tooth burin, shells and stones. The Fine Group: Workmanship or Speed ?: Very few are poorly made. Dimensions, butt, shaft and blade types and other decorations were analysed painstakingly for almost 600 ‘paddles.’ Three broad sub-groups were used, namely the 32 with verifiable collection or acquisition dates before1830, the 23 collected or acquired between 1831 and 1842, and the remainder. When compared statistically what emerged was a remarkable homogeneity that did not support an ‘evolution’ of carving styles over the two decades of foreign contact up to 1842. It does match however a premise that, as time passed from 1821 to 1842, the carvers spent less time on each item, and that speed became more important than traditional motifs and symbolism. If ‘paddles’ carved quickly with less attention to style, detail and workmanship, could be sold to the undiscerning foreigners as readily as those made slowly, then the incentives to preserve style and perfection would have declined and ceased, particularly as increasing Christianity made the earlier symbolism less and less relevant. “Fine” Austral Island paddle, ex. William Oldman Collection Consequently another comparative method was sought, namely the selection of 46 ‘paddles’ where the standard of carving and craftsmanship was such that they could not have been made quickly. This was particularly apparent where very small and delicate motifs occur, as in over ten separate bands or rows carved within ten centimetres, and some carved in such low relief that at first sight they seem etched, and only on closer examination prove to be carved very finely, minutely and exquisitely. These 46 were given the name the fine group, largely for the fineness and low relief of the carving, but also for their aesthetic balance and fine craftsmanship. Comparing the fine group with the remainder statistically produced again a high degree of homogeneity, but with the fine group there were fewer ‘paddles’ with several blade designs , and significantly more that have curved, concentric designs on their blades. Similarly in comparing the two styles of pommels statistically, those with rectangular, placard-like butt ends, 79%, were clearly of lesser workmanship compared with those with the circular pommels, which were 21%. Again the evidence statistically is not necessarily for an evolving change in motifs, but rather a change to less and less attention to detail, and poorer workmanship. A rectangular pommel could be made much more quickly than a rounded pommel, some of which had as many as seventy-two holes pierced through them in order to show the dancers in silhouette. “Fine Oldman Austral paddle pommel compared to another very good but not “fine.” The ‘fine group’ exhibited significant size differences from the group of all ‘paddles’ combined: Their average length was only 92.6 cms and the average blade width was only 17.6 cms. These measurements are nearly 20% shorter and 12% narrower than the total group as a whole. Put conversely, as a group the less well-made ‘paddles’ are significantly larger, though seldom grossly so. ‘Male’ Motif Reductions: Hocker to W/M. to XX XX crosses, to Triangular ‘Niho’ Teeth, to Chevrons The Main Motifs Examined Closely: I then began analysing the motifs. The carvers used myriad combinations of size and placement with only five main types and three minor types. Every “paddle’ is different. Usually only six or so motifs are used, but they are mixed with flair, ingenuity and creative exuberance. Most ‘paddles’ have a rim of small equilateral triangles around the blade edge. (Similar designs on Mangaia were called ‘Niho Mango’ or ‘Niho Mako,’ for ‘shark tooth’, as a triangular shark tooth was used as a burin.) The second motifs are rows and rows of rectangular cross- hatching cover the blade and the shaft with scarcely any part left bare and uncarved. On close inspection these are human figures formed by the torso between a double XX, with stylised arms and legs, but left headless as befitted the sacredness of the head among all Polynesians. The third motifs, mainly on the poll or top of the shaft, is a line of young dancing girls, with rosettes in their hair, small pointed breasts, squatting with raised hands and outspread knees that strongly suggest the erotic upaupa dance, or in its modern form, the Tahitian tamure. Between the legs of some girls is a vertical line like a placenta, which on others has been reduced to a row of scallops, like the drapes of a big theatre curtain. These motifs seem to be based on a repeating Man (Tiki) and young dancing girls. Placed together, they suggest fertility, descent and ancestry. My opinion is that these were not ‘paddles,’ but rather were probably ceremonial batons of rank for orators and chiefs emphasising tribal relationships. Female” Motif Reductions: Thighs to Descent and other motifs. Thus masterpieces of carving became briefly articles of trade with many made quickly in large quantities for trade with the early foreigners, including for sale at Tahiti in the twenty-odd years from 1820 to 1840, but with 90% depopulation and the influx of strict Christianity, very few were made after 1842. Rhys Richards Paremata, New Zealand 2023 There are copies of Rhys Richards “The Austral Islands: History, Art and Art History “ available for sale at an extremely reasonable price—softcover, 236 pages, $20 USD not including postage. Place your order using this email: parematapress@gmail.com
