OTAGO MUSEUM

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 8

OTAGO MUSEUM

DR STEENSON’S GIFTS ADDITIONS TO SOUTH SEA COLLECTIONS. Among the exhibits which have found a resting place within the Otago University Museum during the course of the years, not the least most interesting are those which have come, through various channels, from the island groups of the Pacific. The authorities have had cause on numerous occasions to feel grateful to collectors and others whose generosity has placed at the disposal of the Museum much that has been of outstanding interest, not alone to the student of such things, but to the general public as well, while at not infrequent intervals the received into its keeping from such sources articles the intrinsic value and rarity of which have made them the subject of covetous longing on the part ol similar institutions, both in this country and abroad. Among these contributors is Dr Kingsley Steenson, a graduate of the Otago Medieal School, to whom the Museum has lately become indebted for a collection of material from the Solomon Islands and the island of Rennel, which adds considerably to the interest and value of the South Sea island collections. Unfortunately Dr Steenson has now moved from the Solomon Islands, and it is to be regretted that that great collecting area will now know him no more.

The island of Rennel, it may be explained, is situated on the western edge of Melanesia, but it is reported to be inhabited by Polynesians. Surrounded by bold cliffs which make landing excessively difficult, the island is but little known to.white men. The South Sea Evangelical Mission had two native teachers stationed there, but both were murdered by the natives some years ago. How Polynesians penetrated the Melanesian belt, and came to settle, thus remote from their kinsfolk, on this lonely outpost of the Pacific, presents an interest-mg-problem. and one which has not yet been solved. As a consequence of the inaccessibility of the island, material from this Polynesian colony is remarkably rare, and scarcely anything of a similar nature to that which has now come to the Otago Museum is to be found in any other museum in the world.

Included in the collection is a number of spears which, judging by their ornate appearance and intricate design, have been used rather for ceremonial than for practical purposes. Lying alongside these is a wooden shark hook of dimensions which would suggest that the sharks about the island are of a most unsophisticated type. At least, a bite having been secured, the native fisherman need have had no fears as to the breaking of his hook. SeVeral clubs are included, their weight and general design leaving no doubt as to their being intended for use in something more serious than native display, while two coconut water bottles afford examples of the ingenuity of the craftsman in sennett decorative work. A wooden pillow or head rest —a most uncomfortable looking thing from the viewpoint of the European—.gives further evidence of the skill of the native both in design and execution. In Polynesia, the appeal of the work is made to depend upon the complete discharge of its funfftions. This is the more remarkable when it is considered that all around these people were Melanesians whose idea of ornamentation is fundamentally different, and who, it appears, cannot conceive of beauty without colour and the introduction of some non-useful element. The whole of this Rennel Island collection is as yet in the basement, and is not at present open to the public.

The Solomon Islands exhibits, which are housed in the Maori gallery at present, represent an entirely different world of culture, for here the art of the Melanesian, with all his love of display and colour, is in evidence. The first article which catches the eye is a small club, the head of which is composed of a lump of iron pyrites neatly fastened to the staff. Like the rest of Dr Steenson’s gifts, this is from the island- o£ Malaita. To the student it has an interest quite apart from its technical features by reason of the fact that the same type of club was in use on the island when the early Spanish voyagers discovered it in 1568, and has been accurately described by them in their accounts cf their explorations. The Spaniard, however, was but little inter, ested in native craftsmanship as such, and that which first directed his attention to the weapon was the iron pyrites forming the head. The gleaming, sparkling plates of pyrites were mistaken for gold, and the group received the name of the Solomon Islands as a result of this error. This particular club has a further and rather gruesome interest attach? ing to it by reason of the fact that it belonged to a native named Nau, who was executed for the murder of Bell and another white man in the Solomons some four or five years ago. The handle is beautifully inlaid with golden lipped pearl shell, in accomplishing which the native artist has shown a remarkable sense of colour.

Also included in the case are a bone nose pin, an essentially Melanesian decoration, and a number of fish hooks, cunningly carved. That these Solomon Islanders are in their own way master craftsmen is clearly shown by several examples of intricate design work in the i r n f° re h ea <l ornaments of tridacna shell, on top of which is an arabesque of tortoise shell accomplished principally by the aid of the native drill. In these the execution of detail is remarkable, though here, as elsewhere, it is at once evident that the power of design had not been so fully developed. They are, however, of particular value to the Museum in that there are already two such in its possession, and this further addition makes the set an outstanding one. Another point of interest which attaches to these is the fact that a closely related form is found in the Marquesas Islands, a Polynesian group, the latter in turn being related to Maori workmanship. The collection in the cabinet is completed by three dance wands, carved to represent birds, it being supposed that the totemic groups—those mysterious brotherhoods into which primitive society in so many lands is divided—are here associated with birds.

The central exhibit in the second cabinet is a collection of Solomon Islands money, consisting of shells arranged on strings. These have a conventional value similar to our money, being made of shells of different colour. The red shells have to be dived for at considerable depths, and are thus regarded as being of no small worth. A pump-drill, the flywheel of which has been constructed from the karapace bore of. the turtle, while the power is supplied by a string which acts on a similar principle to that of the bow drill of the East, illustrates the native method of boring, and incidentally furnishes further proof of that intercommunication of ideas between races and people widely separated which has accounted for what at first eight appear to be striking coincidences. This method of drilling was perfected in the Old World, and has come down to the Pacific, perhaps taking hundreds of years in its travel, and losing some of its fineness and niceties on the way. At the back of the case are two sets of pipes, made of reeds, upon which doubtless some Melanesian Pan discoursed sweet music to dusky maidens beneath the Southern Cross. Some of the best bows and arrows from the Solomon Islands which the Museum possesses have been given by Dr Steenson, along with several from the Santa Cruz group. A collection of Greek and Roman silver coins from the Rattray collection, ing that exquisite sense of simplicity of design, and perfection of execution which were outstanding attributes of the Greek craftsmen, has now been placed on view in one of the Greek cases. Another change that will be noticed is that the arms presented by Mr H. C. Butterworth have been moved into the cases of Oriental arms, where they can be viewed by the public.