Pendant 18th–19th century Hawai'i This rare whalebone pendant bears many of the hallmarks of distinction for which Hawaiian figural sculpture is best known. Expertly finished, the surface volumes of the body are boldly pronounced. An accentuated waist and rib cage flare out into the strong musculature of the upper torso and arms, and these are matched by definition in the lower half of the figure’s body — buttocks, thighs, flexed calves. Spare yet highly expressive, further detailing defines the ridge of the back, individual toes and fingers; even eyebrows are angled with a single stroke to cr
Pendant 18th–19th century Hawai'i This rare whalebone pendant bears many of the hallmarks of distinction for which Hawaiian figural sculpture is best known. Expertly finished, the surface volumes of the body are boldly pronounced. An accentuated waist and rib cage flare out into the strong musculature of the upper torso and arms, and these are matched by definition in the lower half of the figure’s body — buttocks, thighs, flexed calves. Spare yet highly expressive, further detailing defines the ridge of the back, individual toes and fingers; even eyebrows are angled with a single stroke to create a furrowed brow, the lips pursed forward in an expression of quiet focus and concentration. Despite its diminutive size, this sculpture loses nothing of the power and energy associated with the huge monumental sculptures for which Hawaii is best from a section of whalebone, the figure was likely originally suspended from bunched coils of finely plaited human hair to form a necklace in the manner of the more widely known whale ivory pendants known as lei niho palaoa. (See also for a fine example, also in the Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, currently on display in Gallery 354). The dynamism of this figure, captured in a moment of poised vitality, is the only known example of such a pendant skillfully shaped into a human figure. While from certain angles the figure appears to be leaping or springing acrobatically into action, in fact it finds its perfect equilibrium supported on carefully delineated fingertips, gently balanced on its front tiptoes. Bending forward in this way the figure’s body creates a strong, powerful arch encapsulating within its raised arms the bounded space of the universe. In his innovative analysis of Hawaiian sculpture, Valerio Valeri (1985) identifies the profound significance of the crescentic form throughout the canon of Hawaiian art. Crescents and arches allude to the canopy of the sky, a threshold wh
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Photo credit: © MET/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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