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To'o

human history
  • Ingoa Kē

    Deity (English)

  • Kupu whakaahua

    To'o. Deity. A sacred representation of Oro, the God of war. This representation is made of braided nape (coconut sennit) latticed completely over a wooden pole, encasing it. The wood is highly likely to be tamanu (mahogany). Dark brown in overall colour. It is round in section, though narrower in diameter at one end. The object was formerly covered in feathers. A face is marked out in the nape.

    Fibre breakages are visible as well as traces of glue possibly due to later attempts at repair. Handwritten on an old label adhered to the outer sennit surface reads: "Tahitean idol made of the fibres of the coconut husk. To this class of idols human and other sacrifices were [presented]. G Bennet." Oldman notes: "Presented to John Wotherspoon by the Rev. George Bennet." Illustrated in "Polynesian Artifacts" pl 5.

  • Wāhi
    Tahiti/Society Islands/French Polynesia/Pacific
  • Accession Number
    1950.128
  • Rā Tāpiringa
    04 Jul 1950
  • Tohu Tuakiri Kē

    31576 (ethnology)

    365 (Oldman Collection)

  • Wāhanga

    Pacific

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