Viti Necklace, Fiji Islands

the pendants made of Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tooth, one pendant inscribed "H.823" in black.

James T. Hooper (1897-1971), Arundel (inv. no. "H.823")
By descent from the above through the Hooper family
Christie's London, June 19, 1979, lot 113
Maureen Zarember, New York
Allan Stone, New York, acquired from the above on April 25, 1982

Steven Phelps, Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas: The James Hooper Collection, London, 1976, p. 429, cat. 823

Very good condition for an object of this great age and rare type. Tip of one segment broken, as shown in catalogue photograph. Minor marks, nicks, abrasions consistent with age and handling. Fiber binding with minor fraying and unraveling in some places. Outermost pendant on one side inscribed with Hooper inventory number "H.823" in black. Ivory with exceptionally fine aged cream-colored patina.
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.

Born in 1897, James Thomas Hooper has been called "the last Englishman to form a great collection of Tribal art" (Waterfield 2006: 111).  He acquired his first ethnographic object, a spear, from his father while still a teenager, and shortly afterwards began scouring London antiques shops for such "curios".  After returning from service in the first World War, in which he served as a Signaller in the Royal Army Flying Corps, Hooper continued to pursue his interest in aquiring works of African, Native American, and especially Oceanic art, soon realizing that "...many of the products of primitive man were becoming increasingly difficult to obtain" (Hooper and Burland 1953: 11), and resolved to devote himself to the preservation of these precious objects. With the assitance of Cottie Burland of the British Museum, he published The Art of Primitive Peoplesin 1953; as Burland noted in the introduction, Hooper "felt it a duty to preserve something of the past for the sake of the future.  It is a collection of things of beauty, which will never be made again, of which the ancient inspiration has fled. [...] There is no doubt that the collection is among the finest in private hands in Europe both from the point of view of quality of specimens and of careful documentation."  Hooper opened his collection to the public in 1957: "The Totems Museum" in High Street, Arundel, Sussex was the culmination of his life's work.

Hooper kept a detailed leger cataloguing each object in his collection, numbering each piece sequentially; these "H" numbers are found today on dispersed Hooper objects, many of which have found their way into prominent institutional collections including The British Museum in London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.