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THB19th C. Solomon Islands Feather Currency - ex Sotheby's
Lot 164
About Seller
Artemis Gallery
686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States
Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more
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Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
$40,000 - $60,000
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About Auction
Live
By Artemis Gallery
Jun 4, 2020
Set Reminder
2020-06-04 10:00:00
2020-06-04 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-5185
An important one-day auction featuring museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Far East / Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian, Fossils, Ancient Jewelry, Fine Art, so much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
An important one-day auction featuring museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Far East / Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian, Fossils, Ancient Jewelry, Fine Art, so much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (393)
- Lot Description
Oceania, Melanesia, Solomon Islands, Temotu Province, Santa Cruz Islands, ca. 19th century CE. A stunning and tightly coiled red feather form of currency known as a tevau that is traditionally used to pay for goods such as root crops, canoes, turtles, and pigs. Tevau have also traditionally served as gifts offered during marriage ceremonies. The spiraled band of fiber is decorated with scarlet feathers from the honey-eater bird. All is wound around two bark coils with strands of shell beads and pendants attached. What is fascinating is that a tevau like this example very likely includes feathers from more than 300 birds, because the artisans only use 4 small red feathers from each honey-eater bird they catch in order to create a tevau. Each feather was carefully attached and the tevau was also decorated with multiple shell-adorned strands. Custom lucite display case included. Size: 29" L x 2.1" W x 17.625" H (73.7 cm x 5.3 cm x 44.8 cm); 20.875" H (53 cm) on included custom stand; (display case): 31" L x 5.4" W x 23.1" H (78.7 cm x 13.7 cm x 58.7 cm)
According to the Museum of New Zealand, "As well as being a standard currency, the feathered coils are appreciated for their beauty and the work that goes into making them. In 1948, the famous canoe navigator Tevake, from Peleni, exchanged ten turtles for one especially fine tevau. However, the value of the coils declines as the feathers fade." Note that the feathers decorating this tevau still exhibit vibrant hues.
See a similar example at the Museum of New Zealand (registration number FE012737).
Cf. Sotheby's New York: May 12, 202, lot 300 for a similar currency roll formerly belonging to the Masco Corporation Collection.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Sotheby’s, New York "Art of Africa, Oceania, and The Americas" auction (May 15, 2017, lot 38); ex-Lynda Cunningham collection, New York, USA
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
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#154643Minor fraying to some fibrous threads and bark coils, with losses to some small tufts of feathers, light staining to some areas of body and shell pieces, and age-commensurate desiccation, otherwise intact and near-choice. Great preservation to feathers and bark coils.Condition
- Shipping Info
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