The tall pahu drums of Raivavae were made from the tamanu (Calophyllum) tree, sharkskin and sennit fibre lashings. The intricately pierced hollow base is an excellent example of artistry attained by Raivavae carvers. Elaborately carved drums such as this were kept on marae, sacred place of worship, to be used during community rituals. Dance has and continues to be an integral part of Pacific ritual and ceremony, hence the stylised dancing figures on the carved base. Between the rows of dancing figures are crescents, which may represent a further abstraction of this motif. The figures are prevalent in Raivavae wood carving, they appear on other carved objects such as paddles and ladles suggesting that inspiration for them came from the ceremonial drums. W.O. Oldman, a London artefact dealer and collector, assembled an important collection of Maori, Polynesian and Melanesian artefacts, which was purchased in 1948 by the New Zealand government for 44,000 pounds. The collection was distributed in 1950 between the four main metropolitan museums in New Zealand, with some material going to regional museums.