December 2017 Ethnology
Trumpet-shell or Putoka
A poetic object from the bottom of the sea:
a trumpet-shell from the Marquesas Islands
By developing an ethnological collection, the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art desires to gather objects linked with ritual practices of Oceania and Latin America. This trumpet made of a conch shell is the ideal artefact to initiate this collection.
Approach it to your ear: you will hear the sound of the waves and of the ceremonial songs from the Marquesas.
Trumpet-shell or Putoka
Oceania, Marquesas Islands, end XVIIIth-first part XIXth Century CE
Shell (Charonia Tritonis), coco fiber, hair, tapa, bone
Length : 47 cm
FGA-ETH-OC-0018
Provenance
This object has been brought back by Admiral Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars, from his expedition at the Marquesas Islands, in 1842. It remained in the family and was inherited by heritage. Acquired in Paris, Galerie Yann Ferrandin, the 18th july 2017
Unpublished
See also
Mask of a forest spirit (kavat)
Papua New Guinea, New Britain island, Gazelle peninsula
End XIXth – beginning XXth Century AD
Statuette of utrarius dwarf
Egypt (Alexandria), late 1st century BC – early 1st century AD.
