A set of three egrets, protective ornaments, pavahina. - Lot 120

A set of three egrets, protective ornaments, pavahina. Made up of old man's beard hair braided and tied on fine cords of braided coconut pericardium, the pavahina is an extremely precious and sacred item, and like a charm or amulet, it protects its owner through the power of mana. "The hair and, even more so, the old man's beard, coming from the head, the place of the individual's most important spiritual power (mana)", was braided, gathered into a bouquet and prepared by a specialized craftsman: the tuhuka. These hairs from the beard or hair of an old man, usually a relative, were bleached with seawater using a special technique. Pavahina, such as these three very fine examples, were normally worn in the hair behind the tiara, but could also be attached to a tokotoko pioo command stick, like the one collected by Captain Collet between 1842 and 1844, now in the collections of the Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac. Marquesas Islands Human hair, coconut fiber braid, very fine patina and age-old oxidation. H. 25 cm / 17cm. and 15 cm approx. See p. 163 and 164 for Capt. Collet in Mata Hoata Arts et Société aux Iles Marquises, Ed. Musée du Quai Branly - Actes sud 2016. See N° 75 and 76 p. 114 for other pavahina in: Ta'aroa L'Univers Polynésien, P. et F. de Deckker, Crédit Communal, Bruxelles 1982