A Tall StoryThis staff was once part of the famous collection of London antiquities dealer W O Oldman. The New Zealand government bought the Maori and Pacific part of the collection and distributed the items among the large metropolitan museums. Like much of the collection, not much is known about this Austral Islands staff with its Janus-like head piece. It would have passed through several sale rooms and auctions on its journey, gradually leaving its story behind. We think it was originally collected by a missionary, probably on the island of Tubuai, and it is one of only four known examples in the world. But because it’s so long – nearly three metres – it has never been displayed ... Until now.
|
|
Join Dr Tom Trnski, Research Manager and John Early, Curator of Entomology and get closer to the stories, tales and historical information for this unique collection of objects.
Click to listen or
to save to your computer or media player - right click link and select "Save Target As" (3.14 mb). Download before you visit the Museum.
Download the Audio Tour Transcript (pdf 152kb) |
|
|
Explore Secrets Revealed objects and listen to their stories |
|
Sign up for our enewsletter
Exhibition Activities
|
|
