A lot of two photo-cards. - Lot 121

A lot of two photo-cards. Produced in Papeete Tahiti by the famous Madame Sophia Hoare, and reproducing two no less famous drawings by Eugène Fauque de Jonquières circa 1880, depicting a young Marquesan girl dancing the hakamanu and a Marquesan dancer, both richly adorned and both wearing the rare finger rings known as tu'a. Sophia Hoare was appointed official photographer to the Tahitian court during the reign of King Pòmare V, and produced numerous photo-cards celebrating Tahiti. Eugène Fauque de Jonquières, Vice-Admiral and great friend of Pierre Loti, was an excellent draughtsman who left sixteen drawings, some of which, like the two reproduced here, have become almost mythical, depicting Marquesan dancers in detail like almost no other document, and are deposited in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres. Papeete, Tahiti Photo albumen print glued to cardboard, old oxidation and slight indentation on one of the two cards, otherwise excellent condition. 16.5 x 10.7 cm See p. 173 and 179 in Mata Hoata Arts et Société aux Iles Marquises, Ed. Musée du Quai Branly - Actes sud 2016. Provenance : Jean Roudillon Collection