A drum (pahu) adorned with flat tiki incised decorations, ha - Lot 123

A drum (pahu) adorned with flat tiki incised decorations, having retained its sharkskin stretched by a complex rope of coconut fiber braids. The generic name for Marquesan drums is pahu, but there were no less than sixteen different types of drum to set the rhythm for the various sacred and religious ceremonies, songs (uta) and dances (haka) during banqueting celebrations (koina), fundamental to ensuring the cohesion and vitality of ancient Marquesan society. Drums thus play an essential role in Marquesan culture, and as Véronique Mu-Liepmann rightly writes in the catalog for the Mata Hoata exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly, quoting the indispensable Karl Von den Steinen, physician and anthropologist sent by the Berlin Museum to Nuku Iva in 1897, author of the mythical work Les marquisiens et leur art: "without the drum, the world has no value... and that it has something human about it". These words have a particular resonance here, especially if you take the time to admire the superb tiki motifs carved and incised in flat tattoos that adorn the fenestrated pedestal of this drum. Viewed from the side, the soundbox flares slightly downwards, and its entire perimeter is carved with parallel, horizontal grooves carved with a slight indentation, as evidenced by ancient tradition. This wave-like pattern is like a narration of the waves of the drum's sounds. The bottom of the soundbox bowl is carved in a rounded form hidden by the fenestrated pedestal, which is entirely adorned with these superb "exploded", flat carved tiki motifs, two of which are set in a kind of "cartouche". The carving is lively and energetic, all varied and non-repetitive, a further testament to great Marquesan art. Published in 1951 in L'Art Océanien No. 38, a now legendary special issue of the Le Musée Vivant collection, for which Madeleine Rousseau's special involvement must be remembered. Note on the photo of this publication that the ivipo which was originally attached to it and adorned it, and whose beautiful old style can still be admired on the photo in the archives of the Le Corneur Roudillon gallery, has unfortunately been mislaid, but it will certainly reappear one fine day, like this superb drum today. Marquesas Islands, 19th century. Wood, shark skin (part of the skin is missing), coconut pericarp fibers, very fine old oxidation and patina. H. 53 cm (and noted as 60 cm in its 1951 publication, as it was measured diagonally along its greatest length, as was apparently the rule). See: p. 175, 196 and 197 in Mata Hoata Arts et Société aux Iles Marquises, Musée du Quai Branly, Ed. Actes Sud 2016. L'art Océanien - Sa présence - No. 38 in the Collection "Le Musée Vivant", presented by Madeleine Rousseau, introduction by Paul Rivet and texts by Guillaume Apollinaire and Tristan Tzara, APAM (Association Populaire des Amis du Musée) 1951. Provenance : - Collection of Galerie Le Corneur Roudillon - Collection Jean Roudillon Publication: Le Musée Vivant-L'art Océanien Sa présence n° 38 de la Collection Le Musée Vivant, APAM (Association Populaire des Amis du Musée) 1951, reproduced p. 98 fig. 177. Exhibition: "Art du Pacifique" Indonesia-Oceania, galerie Le Corneur Roudillon, 51 rue Bonaparte, Paris, January 24-February 15, 1951 (visible in an exhibition photo, see page 194).