Sacred Images and Chiefly Works from Central Polynesia

Until August 30, the de Young Museum of San Francisco is presenting a small, carefully selected showcase of traditional Polynesian works. This exhibition of twenty rare items––which were created, used, and collected in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth centuries in the Cook Islands, Austral Islands, and the Society Islands––highlights natural materials and artistic techniques used to create images of worship as well as everyday articles. Displaying a variety of realistic and highly abstracted figurative forms, these precious works have been highly valued for their aesthetic, religious, and cultural significance by the elite of Central Polynesia as well as by the Europeans who collected them.

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Fan handle  -  Cook Islands  -  Early 19th century

Information and images courtesy of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco