condensed discuss document expanded export feedback print share remove reset document_white enquire_white export_white report_white

Collections Online

Collections record

discuss document export feedback print share gallery-landscape xml

Tauu

human history
  • Other Name

    Shell receptacle (English)

  • Description

    Tauu. Trumpet shell. The tauu is of the Charonia Tritonis type. It has a bulbous mid section, with a point at one end and a large aperture on the opposite end. From its point are a series of sutures that form the whorl. A larger whorl makes up the lower part of its form. The aperture of the shell features a forced cavity. Where the lip of the aperture meets towards the end of the shell it furrows in to form a small funnel.

    Its exterior is made up of a series of small soft and hard ridges. Its is dappled in a dark brown colour with a neutral off-white colour in between. The aperture is off-pink in colour. Te tauu is a receptacle used for containing warmed awa ba (body oil) which is then poured through its funnel into another container such as te binobino (coconut calabash). Its forced cavity provides more room for holding awa ba.

  • Place
    Beru/Gilbert Islands/Kiribati
  • Accession Number
    1936.295
  • Accession Date
    1936
  • Other Id

    24118.1 (ethnology)

    79 (Maude Collection)

  • Department

    Pacific

Tauu; 1936.295; 24118.1, 79; Cultural Permissions Apply

Images and documents

Images

  • Tauu; 1936.295; 24118.1, 79; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Tauu; 1936.295; 24118.1, 79; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Tauu; 1936.295; 24118.1, 79; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Tauu; 1936.295; 24118.1, 79; Cultural Permissions Apply

Artefact

The development of the Auckland War Memorial Museum online collection is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

The gift of curiosity

With unlimited free entry to all paid exhibitions, discounted event tickets and exclusive Member-only events, a Museum Membership is the gift that keeps on giving year-round.

SEE OPTIONS FROM $60

The gift of curiosity