Tambour, Îles Marquises, Polynésie

Acquis auprès d'une famille française qui le possédait depuis 1880
Collection privée

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En Polynésie,  les tambours manifestaient – tant par l'instrument lui-même que par la musique – la présence de la divinité. Nommés pahu dans les îles Marquises, ils en constituaient les principaux instruments de musique et y jouaient un rôle majeur. Très rares sont ceux conservés aujourd'hui en mains privées.

Sculpté dans le tronc d'un cocotier ajouré à la base, ce tambour pahu est recouvert de manière traditionnelle d'une membrane en peau de requin tendue par un tressage en fibres de coco pu'u, "dont la fixation indirecte, à l'aide d'un laçage et d'un cercle rapporté, est particulière aux îles Marquises" (Panoff, 1995 : 118). Placés à des points déterminés du tohua - ensemble architectural dédié aux grandes fêtes génératrices de prestige - les tambours de dimensions variées accompagnaient les chants et les danses marquant les compétitions intergroupes (Kaeppler, 2010 : 95). Ils étaient joués en frappant à la fois sur la membrane et sur le corps en bois.

Ce tambour pahu se distingue notamment par la présence d'une virole en os ivi po'o – utilisée dans les îles Marquises tant comme ornement personnel que comme élément décoratif d'objets rituels, tels que les tambours et les conques. De très beau volume, elle est sculptée de manière classique en forme de tiki dont la tête surdimensionnée repose directement sur le torse, les mains posées de part et d'autre de l'abdomen.
cf. Linton (1923 : pl. LXXII) pour un tambour très comparable dans les collections du Bernice P. Bishop Museum (Honolulu) ; et Kaeppler (2010 : 100) pour un autre dans la collection Mark et Carolyn Blackburn.

Drum, Marquesas Islands, Polynesia

In Polynesia, drums demonstrate the presence of the divine both through the instrument itself and through the music it creates. In the Marquesas Islands drums, known as pahu, were the principal musical instruments and played an important role. Very few of these drums remain in private hands.

Carved from the trunk of a coconut tree, with openwork motifs at the base, the offered drum is covered in the traditional manner with a sharkskin membrane. This is affixed to the drum with a coir or pu'u fibre binding, using a method of fixation which is peculiar to the Marquesas Islands (Panoff 1995: 118). Placed at various specific points in the tohua, an ensemble of platforms and buildings which were built for use during prestige-generating feasts, drums of varying sizes accompanied the songs and dances which marked inter-group competitions (Kaeppler, 2010: 95). These drums were played by striking both the drum-skin and the wooden body of the drum.

The offered drum is distinguished by the present of a bone ivi po'o toggle. These toggles were used in the Marquesas Islands as personal ornaments and as decorative elements on ritual objects such as drums and conches. This fine ivi po'o is carved in the classic tiki figure form, with an oversized head resting directly on the chest and the hands placed either side of the abdomen.

Cf. Linton (1923: pl. LXXII) for a comparable drum in the collection of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, and Kaeppler (2010: 100) for an example from the collection of Mark and Carolyn Blackburn.