Seat of a chief "no oanga"

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Description

wood, reddish and dark brown patina, rectangular seat with curved sides, rising from four feet, traces of the carving tool recognizable, slightly dam., minor missing parts (rims of the seat);
carved from a single block of wood. Such seats could be used only by chiefs on ritual occasions as symbols of rank and served no other utilitarian purpose. When not in use, they were kept in the chiefs house or storehouse, hung by a fibre cord strung between two of the legs.

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Comparing literature

Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. II, Köln 1995, p. 527, ill. 608 Wardwell, Allen, Island Ancestors, Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, Fort Worth 1994, ill. 77

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