Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Property from an American Private Collection
Whale Tooth Necklace, Fiji
Lot Closed
May 18, 06:10 PM GMT
Estimate
18,000 - 20,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from an American Private Collection
Whale Tooth Necklace, Fiji
Longest tooth: 4 ½ in (11.5 cm); shortest tooth: 3 ⅜ in (8.5 cm)
Museum Godeffroy, Hamburg
Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig (inv. no. Me 6058), presumably acquired from the above
Wayne Heathcote, New York
American Private Collection, acquired from the above in 1994
Fergus Clunie notes that necklaces “composed of a graduated series of whole Sperm Whale teeth were amongst the most prized valuables in Viti [Fiji].” (Fergus Clunie, Yalo i Viti: a Fiji Museum Catalogue, Suva, 1986, p. 159).
A very similar necklace, also with cloth binding, from the collection of W. O. Oldman, the great English dealer and collector, is now in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington (inv. no. OL002129/1; illustrated in W. O. Oldman, The Oldman Collection of Polynesian Artifacts, Auckland, 2004, pl. 63, cat. no. 598b).