figure

In the Pacific, figure sculptures may represent mythical heroes, ancestors, gods or personified forces of the natural and supernatural world. Some figures are designed to stand free, others are part of functional tools or architectural structures. They are not idols to be worshipped but act to concentrate aspects of the spirit world into a material representation which enables communication between humanity and the spirit world.

According to Easter Island tradition, the legendary hero Tu-ko-ihu carved the first wooden figures called moai kavakava, after he had seen two sleeping spirits who looked like skeletons. Moai kavakava figures, always male, were held up to the sky in rituals dedicated to the gods, especially connected with harvest times. On festival occasions, a man might wear his wooden images suspended around his neck by a lug in the back of the figure. This moai kavakava came to Auckland Museum in 1924 as part of the famous James Edge-Partington collection from England, purchased for the museum by Mrs Selwyn Upton and Mr W. Cecil Leys of Auckland in memory of their father Dr T. W. Leys who had a long and distinguished association with Auckland Museum.