a rare hawaii dog tooth dancer's leg rattle

KUPE'E NIHO 'ILIO

Details

a rare hawaii dog tooth dancer's leg rattle
Kupe'e niho 'ilio
Of three hundred and sixty-eight dog canine teeth pierced and strung in nineteen rows on olona fibre to form a flared panel, with loops each side for attachment
28cm. high

Provenance

J.L. Brenchley, resident in Hawaii 1850-54 Maidestone Museum, Kent, sold in 1950 to
James Hooper, sold Christie's, London, 21 June 1977, lot 170

Literature

Phelps, S.J., Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas, The James Hooper Collection, London, 1976, p.80, Pl.40, no.351

Exhibited

Ta'aroa, L'Univers Polynesien, Brussels, 1982, no.138

Lot Essay

Dogs were bred in large numbers on the island of Hawaii, where most of the dog tooth rattles were made. As each dog only has four canine teeth at least ninety-two dogs were neded to make this rattle. Buck (P.H., Arts and Crafts of Hawaii, Honolulu, 1957) describes the method in which these leg rattles were made, how they were attached to the legs of the male dancers, and illustrates Webber's drawing of a dancer, p.554, fig.341.

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