Easter Island Tahonga Amulet, ca. 1900
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APPRAISER:
The wood is toromiro wood. Very little wood on Easter Island. It disappeared a long time ago. In fact, when Captain Cook was there in 1774, there were no palm trees left. I believe it's toromiro, and when that wasn't available, they would just be flotation wood that would float up on the beach. The eyes, they're inset with obsidian, which is a natural glass.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And the eye circlets around it, they were usually sections of a bird's leg bone. It's not terribly distinct, but I think that's possibly what it is. They're not sure what the mythology is on these things. I mean, there was some feeling that they were just for women to wear a long time ago, but that's sort of been disproven. And they were wondering what it was meant to be, whether it's meant to be, say, a coconut, the shape, originally, or it was an egg shape. There is a cult of the bird on Easter Island, and the bird is the manu-tara, and it's a type of tern. So gradually, this cult did develop, and it was very, very involved. There would be a competition every year and there would be many months of celebration and rituals and rites, and in some cases, even sacrifice.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Uh sacrif… People would be sacrificed from rival clans. The people who were then eligible would dive into the ocean out to a small island, and it's very, very tricky. There were some years when none of them survived.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And the idea was, you would go to the island, and of course, the first one who would get an egg from the manu-tara would then strap it to his forehead with a, with a band of some kind, and he would swim back, all the while not wanting to break this thing. You know, like that.
GUEST:
Naturally, wow.
APPRAISER:
Anyway, when he came back, he was sort of the man of the year. He didn't really have to do anything, but he was the man.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And uh that stayed with him sort of for life. I don't believe it's very old. I feel it was made at the end of the 19th century, or the beginning of the 20th, maybe even a little bit later. But the carving is really good. It's very precise, which makes me feel that it's been copied from an existing example. They started making these as tourist things, as well. I mean, the culture sort of dissolved towards the end of the 19th century. You don't see these very often in the market. It's a pretty good example, because some of them are very weak, indeed. What do you think it's worth?
GUEST:
I have no idea. I was, maybe a couple of hundred dollars, possibly? I, I don't know.
APPRAISER:
I think this probably may be $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Um as a retail price, you know.
GUEST:
That's fantastic.
APPRAISER:
Yes, I mean, there are earlier examples of these. They would probably be 18th century. 18th century. And those then would probably be in the region of maybe $50,000 to $100,000 each.
GUEST:
(softly): Wow. I'm so blown away by that, because when I first came across something like this, I had no idea what it was.
APPRAISER:
None of the Easter Island figures are painted, unlike a lot of Polynesian items, which are.
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