Barkcloth Beater, Niue

Cecil George Savile Foljambe (1846-1907), 1^st Earl of Liverpool, collected in situ in 1865 while serving as a midshipman aboard HMS Curacoa

Christie's, London, April 4, 1989, lot 189, consigned by the descendants of the above

The Masco Corporation, Taylor, Michigan

Sotheby's, New York, May 17, 2002, lot 360, consigned by the above

Acquired at the above auction

The barkcloth or tapa beaters of Niue, known as ike, are among the most distinctive and refined of the many tapa beaters of Oceania. Somewhat similar in form to the i‘e of Samoa, the zig-zag collar between the handle and the beating end appears to be unique to Niuean examples. Here the collar is carved with crisp, masterful precision. The four sides of the head are slightly convex, with two grooved and two smooth sides; the latter two are decorated with a tracery of finely incised lozenge motifs, which reprise the beautifully stippled design that appears on all four sides of the handle. Both the zig-zag collar and the fine stippled designs also appear on certain weapons from Niue; see, for example, a graceful spear, or tao, once in the collection of W. O. Oldman, in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington (inv. no. OL002092/1).

The present ike, which is of surpassing elegance, was collected in 1865 by Cecil Foljambe, later 1^st Earl of Liverpool, who was a midshipman aboard HMS Curacoa. A beautiful barkcloth, or hiapo, from Niue, collected by Foljambe during the same visit, is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington (inv. no. FE008655).