VITI YAQONA (KAVA) BOWL IN THE SHAPE OF A SEATURTLE, FIJI ISLANDS

darivonu, struck above the head with the numbers "781", painted on the left front fin with the numbers "91/30".

Fiji Museum, Suva, 1920s or earlier
Ursula (1910-2009) and Frank Laurens, Cincinnati, acquired from the above in 1963
Acquired by the present owner from the estate of the above 

Very good condition for an object of this rare type and great age. Three age cracks through top of shell, partially visible in photograph. Hairline cracks and minor chips to both back legs. Original holes for attachments as seen in photograph: holes on either side close to the head (two on proper right) with losses, a second set of holes made in situ through widest part of front legs, probably after the first set became unusable. Shallow hole below proper right eye. Three small holes in tip of nose with remains of green material inside. Outer surface of shell abraded as seen in photograph. Small chips, nicks, scratches, and wear throughout consistent with age and handling. Interior with stains and remains of plant material. Some small white scuffs along rim of bowl. The top struck with "781" stamp above head, two mis-struck "1" stamps closer to head, as seen in photograph. "91/30" painted in yellow over sanded area. Fine aged varied dark brown patina with encrustation.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

As in many parts of Polynesia, the drinking of yaqona was a central element of ceremonial life in the Fiji Islands.  A mildly narcotic beverage prepared from the roots of the kava plant, yaquona was drunk from highly refined bowls, which served an important ritual function and enhanced the status of their chiefly possessors.  See Kjellgren (2007: 290, text to cat. 175) for further discussion.

This superb darivonu (turtle-form) bowl is one of the most refined of its rare kind.  Very few examples of this early style are known in collections.  When the bowl entered the Fiji Museum, sometime between the foundation of the museum in 1904 and a 1930 inventory, it had already accumulated signs of long use, attesting to great age.  Fergus Clunie (1986: 175) notes: "Yaqona bowls shaped like turtles, although used in the last century in ceremonies evolved from Tongan kava ritual, probably stem from much smaller turtle shaped ibūbūrau vessels used in indigenous Vitian yaqona rites."  Larger bowls or tānoa, were an introduction from Tongan and Samoan kava rites, and reached Fiji in the second half of the 18th century.  A closely comparable example of the same size and shape is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1979.206.1579").   Discussing that example, Kjellgren (2007: 291) notes: "the size [...] indicates that it is a tānoa and thus postdates the arrival of Tongan and Samoan kava ritual.  However, it lacks the characteristic lug for attachment of a wātabu, or sacred cord, which came into wide use in the latter part of the nineteeth century."  Another comparable example remains in the Fiji Museum and bears the same numbering convention (Clunie 1986: p. 96, no. 144), and another from the Pitt Rivers Museum was sold in these rooms, November 16, 2001, lot 267.

The bowl is carved from a single piece of timber, probably the sacred vesi (Intsia bijuga), a particularly dense wood.  The rubbed patina and staining from kava attest to long ritual use, while abrasions to the outermost point of the concave shell indicate that it was probably laid to rest in sand when not being held.  Fine decorative tavatava carving circumscribes almost the entire rim of the bowl in a thin line, continuing around the turtle's chin, connecting to a striped design in the area of the shell between the left front fin and the left back fin, and covering the left back fin.  This darivonu is the only one known with such decoration, which is analogous to that found on other priestly Viti objects.

The highly refined form depicts a sea turtle with front fins held tightly to its sides and back fins pointed.  The streamlined silhouette, free from those functional additions seen in later bowls, is simultaneously geometric and naturalistic: smooth, simple forms create an overall shape which is true to life.  Linking the yaqona ritual to the sea turtle, an amphibious creature living in the ocean but giving birth ashore, this sacred darivonu bridges the elements of earth and water, symbols for life and afterlife.

Ursula Laurens and her husband, prominent collectors of Modern art, acquired the offered lot during an extended trip to Australia and the South Pacific in 1963. Their source was the Fiji Museum in Suva which was founded in 1904 and received donations from local families as well as missionary collections. The stamped number "781" on the bowl's front is an accession number as it was used in the museum's registration in the 1920s and earlier. The painted number "91/30" could pre-date or post-date the stamped number. In the former case, it is conceivable that the first number indicates the year of the bowl's collection as [18]91.