Breast ornament (taumi)

RI 57.73

Part of

Oceania

Our Oceania collection numbers 6,000 objects from Papua New Guinea and Australia, to New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii.

Courtesy of National Museums Liverpool, World Museum Liverpool

About this object

A U-shaped 'taumi' chest ornament made from feathers, sharks' teeth, pearl shell and dog hair on a wickerwork base. Tahitian warriors wore taumi to show their high status and possibly as protective breast-plates in battle. Chiefs also presented 'taumi' to visiting Europeans in the late 18th century as high-status gifts.

The pictorial evidence suggests that ‘taumi’ were worn in pairs, across the front and back of the chest and shoulders, so that the head appeared to rise up and out of the jaws of a shark. White dog hair and disks of pearl shell were imported to Tahiti from the neighbouring islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago, while many hours of preparation were required for the capture of sharks in order to extract their teeth, alongside the gathering and grading of feathers from specific species of bird.

Related blog

Objects from the voyages of Captain James Cook

Liverpool’s ethnology collections hold a small number of objects relating to the voyages of Captain James Cook (1728-1779).

Object specifics

Type

Textile/Clothing; Personal Ornament
Culture
Artist/Maker
Place made

Oceania: Polynesia: Society Islands [French Polynesia]
Date made

18th Century Late
Materials

Fibre Coconut; Cane; Hair Dog; Shark Tooth; Bird Feather; Pearl
Location

Item not currently on display
Acquisition

From the Collection of the Liverpool Royal Institution, 1894
Collector

William Bullock
Place collected

Not recorded
Date collected

1894 before
Measurements

700 mm x 670 mm x 5 mm; 27 9/16 in x 26 3/8 in x 3/16 in
Note

A high-status ornament worn in the Society Islands at the time of Captain Cook. May have been collected on one of Captain Cook's voyages.
Related people

William Bullock ( Collector, previous owner); Liverpool Royal Institution ( Previous owner); William Swainson ( Previous owner)

Ownership

Previous owners

Liverpool Royal Institution
Owned from: Unknown or unrecorded
How acquired: Unknown or unrecorded
Owned until: 1894
Disposal method: Unknown or unrecorded
William Swainson
Owned from: Unknown or unrecorded
How acquired: Unknown or unrecorded
Owned until: Unknown or unrecorded
Disposal method: Unknown or unrecorded
William Bullock
Owned from: Unknown or unrecorded
How acquired: Unknown or unrecorded
Owned until: 1819
Disposal method: Unknown or unrecorded

Object view = Humanities
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