Cultural, Ethnic

An older photographic reprint card of a Fijian Native girl with paddle. Has 'Copyright' on it. UNUSED.

A photographic reprint card taken from a collection of the earliest known post cards from Samoa. UNUSED....very good condition.

Photo reprint card ....no makers marks ...dates to mid 1900's. UNUSED.

This is a 5" x 4" print that came with other photos from a package of US Forces World War Two stuff on the Pacific Islands...think she is Samoan or from an island in that region.

An unused Plate & Co card from around early 1900's. Of some historical interest.

Nice older card...very clean and unused.

A photographic Card circa 1900-1910....slight stain and top right corner has crease.

Native women from the Amazon pressing the cassava root plant...photographers details on back....circa 1960's - 70's I think.

Vintage early 1900's postcard...unused.

This came with a bunch of photos ex World War Two. It is 5" x 3 1/2" with scalloped edges as was common back then.

Genuine older card pre World War two....some wear faults as pictures. Of Historical interest....Mountain Tribe 'BONTOC'.

A nice old vintage hand-woven Fan from one of the islands of the Pacific.....Samoa I think....one of four similar ones we are listing...this one has a Tapa Cloth centre piece. I would think that the fans are all around 50-60 years old....the mounted feathers show considerable age and one side of each fan is somewhat faded suggesting they have been displayed on a wall for many years. Approximate size of each Fan is 15" x 11".

A nice old vintage hand-woven Fan from one of the islands of the Pacific.....Samoa I think....one of four similar ones we are listing. I would think that the fans are all around 50-60 years old....the mounted feathers show considerable age and one side of each fan is somewhat faded suggesting they have been displayed on a wall for many years. Approximate size of each Fan is 15" x 11".

A nice old vintage hand-woven Fan from one of the islands of the Pacific.....Samoa I think....one of four similar ones we are listing. I would think that the fans are all around 50-60 years old....the mounted feathers show considerable age and one side of each fan is somewhat faded suggesting they have been displayed on a wall for many years. Approximate size of each Fan is 15" x 11".

Nice French photographic colour card of a North African couple. Unused.

Old card ...No 120. Ephtimios Freres, Port Said.

A T. Pringle, Wellington, copyright card. Postally unused....circa early 1900's. Very good condition.

Vintage card.....Photo from NADAL, Saigon.

Issued by the NZ Government Tourist & Health Resorts Dept. Postally used with a date of 1909. Nice Condition.

A NZ Govt. Dept. of Tourist & Health Resorts Card....postally used but stamp removed. Unsure of actual date but pre 1950. good condition.

F.T. SERIES card printed in England....postally unused circa 1910. Condition excellent.

This is a nice vintage storage vessel for Coral Lime Powder which is used in Betel Nut Chewing. The container part is Bamboo with decorative stopper in wood and base...the piece measures 10 3/4" inches in height. We think it is from around the East Timor area or Lombok islands. BETEL NUT chewing is a custom or ritual that dates back thousands of years from Asia to the Pacific, a tradition very much a part of modern life in many parts of the Coral Triangle. This custom is very much alive that it is hard to ignore betel nut chewing if you visit a country such as Indonesia when the first thing you notice while talking to a local is the bright red-stained teeth and lips of the men and women. The chewing of three items betel nut, mustard stick dipped in lime powder acts as a mild stimulant which help locals suppress their hunger, reduce stress and heighten their senses. Almost all locals we’ve met chew it and when visiting public markets, lime powder and betel nut dominates the market scene – so much so it is hard to find fruits and vegetables normally associated with markets. You can easily buy lime power in any public market in Papua New Guinea or Indonsia. Sometimes, the market is just full of white powder, a wide-eyed tourist would wonder what this is . As almost every family in rural PNG cultivates their own “food gardens”, the betel nut and mustard stick (a pepper plant) can be grown in people’s backyards. But the lime is something that needs buying as this is processed from corals – mainly acropora, these branching stag-horn corals are amongst the fastest growing corals – about 10 cm/year. But harvesting of corals can become a problem if unregulated and unmanaged. Coral harvesting can be done four times a year. The harvest season is closed for three months and on the last 2 days of the third month, women can go out to selected areas to harvest a limit of one basket per collector.

Nice old colour card made by CARDINELL - VINCENT of San Francisco.A topless native Hugao woman smoking a large cigar.

Card has 'SKEEN - PHOTO....marked at front bottom right and UNION POSTALE UNIVERSELLE on back. Nice condition Circa early nineteen hundreds.

Nice older postcard of a young topless native girl in a grass skirt....not branded but it is a vintage one....not sure if its Hawaiian or Samoan in origin.

Older card...not branded....3 topless native beauties on the beach.

A really old card dating to early 1900's....condition a bit ragged as pictured but a fascinating study all the same. Marked with a brand SL on back.

A nice photographic British Made card....No.78.... Copyright by PLATE Ltd, Ceylon.

Looks to have been posted but stamp removed so no date.....probably pre 1950 we think. Nice coloured original old card sent from Suva to Wellington, New Zealand.

Signed by LEMANI.M, Friendly Islands, this is an unusual piece of artwork on a rounded piece of framed TAPA CLOTH depicting a lovely peaceful Island scene. The diameter is 21" so quite a good sized piece of art. material.The backing board is cracked also which has affected the tapa as well to some degree.

This is a nice vintage storage vessel for Coral Lime Powder which is used in Betel Nut Chewing. The container part is Bamboo with decorative stopper in wood and base...the piece measures 11 inches in height. We think it is from around the East Timor or Lombok islands. BETEL NUT chewing is a custom or ritual that dates back thousands of years from Asia to the Pacific, a tradition very much a part of modern life in many parts of the Coral Triangle. This custom is very much alive that it is hard to ignore betel nut chewing if you visit a country such as Indonesia when the first thing you notice while talking to a local is the bright red-stained teeth and lips of the men and women. The chewing of three items betel nut, mustard stick dipped in lime powder acts as a mild stimulant which help locals suppress their hunger, reduce stress and heighten their senses. Almost all locals we’ve met chew it and when visiting public markets, lime powder and betel nut dominates the market scene – so much so it is hard to find fruits and vegetables normally associated with markets. You can easily buy lime power in any public market in Papua New Guinea or Indonsia. Sometimes, the market is just full of white powder, a wide-eyed tourist would wonder what this is . As almost every family in rural PNG cultivates their own “food gardens”, the betel nut and mustard stick (a pepper plant) can be grown in people’s backyards. But the lime is something that needs buying as this is processed from corals – mainly acropora, these branching stag-horn corals are amongst the fastest growing corals – about 10 cm/year. But harvesting of corals can become a problem if unregulated and unmanaged. Coral harvesting can be done four times a year. The harvest season is closed for three months and on the last 2 days of the third month, women can go out to selected areas to harvest a limit of one basket per collector.

Very nice old used card with stamp of King Edward V11 and dated message on bottom for 8/01/06. Great condition for age. Native dress of the times.

A 'Mazos' Photographic postcard of a young Topless HULA GIRL...ex World War Two era Hawaii.

A genuine rare old photo postcard of two topless Fijian beauties that has been removed from an Album...see remnants of paste - album page on back.

A photograph Postcard of native Filipino girls with large cigars...probably circa pre 1940.

Probably circa 1920-1935 ...postally unused.Yap was a major German naval communications center before the First World War. It was occupied by Japanese troops in September, 1914, and passed to the Japanese under the Versailles Treaty in 1919. In World War II, Japanese-held Yap was one of the islands bypassed in the U.S. "island-hopping" strategy, although it was regularly bombed by U.S. ships and aircraft, and Yap-based Japanese bombers did some damage in return. At the end of World War II, Yap was occupied by the U.S. military victors. The U.S. held it and the rest of the Caroline Islands as a trusteeship under a United Nations mandate (the "Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands") until 1986. In that year, Yap, Truk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae formed the independent nation of the Federated States of Micronesia. Under a Compact of Free Association with the United States, Micronesian citizens and goods are allowed entry into the U.S. with few restrictions.

Old colour photograph with a date at bottom of 4.3.13 hand written in.Published by Falk & Co Ltd (copyright).Condition very good for age.

A beautifully hand crafted piece in solid wood. This small Medicine Pot stands just 3" high to the top of the Monkey Lid and has a length of around 3 1/2". This and the other medicine pots we have listed came from the same source as the Ngaju Ancestral figure so possible also from this tribe. The Dayak or Dyak /ˈdaɪ.ək/ are the native people of Borneo. The name DAYAK is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak languages are categorised as part of the Austronesian languages in Asia. The Dayak were animist in belief. Many however, converted to Christianity, and some to Islam more recently. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million. The NGAJU are a large tribal group in Central Borneo.

This is a genuine oldie dating I would say to the early 1900's. It has been written on but not postally stamped...has ....For Postage in New Zealand and Australia Only..

Postally used but stamp has been removed...dated on front as June 1906. Genuine oldies like this are rare nowadays.

A wonderful and rare postcard dating to the early 1900's and stamped on back with....AMERICAN SAMOA NAVAL STATION. It also has the PHOTOGRAPHERS name on it....S Tuitoisal, Samoa.

A MUIR & MOODIE early photographic card...has a copyright date of 1901. Used.....some fade but otherwise very good. Unusual in that it Depicts a group bathing naked .....probably at a Rotorua Pa plus other scenes.

A superbly woven and crafted Shamans medicine container from the Dayak tribe...the native people of Borneo. This stunning ethnic piece measuring 5 1/2" x 4" with a height of 3". The wooden insert to lid is hand carved depicting a bird

This Storage Jar is for keeping Powdered Slaked Lime in, which is used as an additive to Betel Nut (Areca Nut with the leaf of Piper Betle). The chewing of Betel Nut is an addictive habit widespread in the Indonesian province of Papua and elsewhere. The lime is obtained from either sea shells and corals or from limestone. The addition of the lime improves the absorption of alkaloid stimulants increasing the drug effectiveness.5 This Lime Jar stands 8 1/2" tall with a 2 1/4" diameter.

A very nice decorative piece of tapa work from Tonga measuring 38" x 29"....will frame -up beautifully or just hang on wall. Has some age and minor wear to it but quite a striking piece of art. Good buying now and will only appreciate in value. The cloth is known by a number of local names, eg, tapa cloth, although the term tapa is international and understood throughout the islands that use the cloth. The word tapa is from Tahiti, where Captain Cook was the first European to pick it up and to introduce it to rest of the world. In Tonga, tapa is known as ngatu, and here it is of great social importance to the islanders, often being given as gifts. In Samoa, the same cloth is called siapo. In Hawaii, it is known as kapa. In Rotuma it is called `uha and in Fiji it is called masi.

I think that this Fish Shaped Dish is Fijian from the rim design work. Measures 9 3/4" x 5 1/2" and in excellent condition. Nice item..hard to date but not new....lot of detail work gone into it.

To me this looks a bit scary...like a giant Earthworm it measures 24" in length with a width of around 5 to 6". The body is hollow and looks to be fashioned out of bark which is held together with an intricately woven web made from what appears to be bark or vine plant material. The head is also of natural material...a nut or gourd type, and the arms are carved wood. A Unique piece for anyone into this sort of thing. We have received a most helpful email from Jessica who has advised this piece is not meant to be scary at all ...in fact the reverse.....Jessica has advised this is actually an Omdurman / Baggara doll and these dolls represent the Dinka tribes women....she says that this one is missing most of its finery as the strings of beads do break etc..... but its not a weird creepy magical haunted item....it is ACTUALLY a fashion ornament! The item is clean and would have had to have been fumigated when bought into the country through Customs. THANKS Jessica for your knowledge and expertise in this area and for sharing it with us!

A really nice example ....smaller than the other one we have for sale...this one is 10 1/2" in diameter and 3 1/4" high. Nice decorative carving around the edge with small pieces of MOP as well. Fracture in wood underneath but surface only.

This old Australian Aboriginal smoking pipe ( Djambatuka ) measures 181/2 inches in length and has a diameter of around one inch tapering down at the mouth end to 3/4 inch. The Pipe is finely and heavily carved with Tribal Markings. The hole at the far end is where the tobacco was stuffed into the pipe and usually a piece of tin or bark was used as a sort of bowl to feed the pipe. The very end of the pipe is stuffed with clay, gum, or wood bits etc to seal it off. According to a very similar carved pipes The National Museum Of Australia this is a " Malayan-type (Macassan) wooden pipe, and is evidence of trade and contact with other regions and people prior to European occupation ". "Smoking pipes with long stems such as this example were introduced into Arnhem Land by traders from South Sulawesi." There is strong linguistic evidence from Aboriginal Australia to support the proposition that the Macassan pipe was originally an opium pipe. In their studies of Makasar or Makassarese loan words, linguists have documented numerous terms that associated the pipes with opium. In the Yolngu language a widespread term for pipe, ‘bamutuka’, derives from the Makassarese ‘pammudukan’, meaning ‘bamboo opium pipe’. Other loan words used in the region include ‘ma:ta’ (long wooden pipe), which derives from the Bugis or Makassarese ‘mada’ for ‘prepared opium’ (Zorc 1986). Yet another word used for pipe, ‘jandu’, is borrowed from the Bugis, Makassarese, Javanese and/or Malay ‘candu’, meaning ‘prepared opium, softened with water before use’ (Walker and Zorc 1981, pp. 118, 126; cf. Evans 1992). In order for these introduced words to become embedded in Aboriginal languages, they, and the objects they describe, must have been in frequent use by the Macassans.

Big oblong hand carved food platter measuring 25" in length with a maximum width of 10 1/2". Has typical Trobriand Islands decoration to either end......very nicely made item dating to around mid 1900's. Has a piece of the decoration missing at one end. The TROBRIAND ISLANDS are a group of coral islands off the East Coast of PNG. The largest island of the group is Kiriwina.

Nicely made vintage Kava Bowl...this one is 11" in diameter and has 8 short legs.....bowl stands just 2 3/4" high.The bowl in which the drink is prepared is called a tanoa or laulau. The former word is the more frequently used. The bowls vary in size up to thirty inches and they stand on short rounded legs varying in number from four to twenty four. It is unusual to find a bowl that has a greater depth than six inches and the majority are perhaps not more than three or four inches deep. A brim of a width varying according to the size of the bowl runs round the top of the tanoa and a flange or sometimes a projecting piece of the original wood is left under the bowl. This is pierced by a hole through which a piece of afa (native sennit) is threaded for suspending the bowl from a house post. The tanoa is usually made from the wood of the ifilele tree (Intsia bijuga), a hard grained timber of a reddish brown colour. When the bowl is finished it is soaked in fresh water for a considerable time to remove the woody smell. 'Ava often was also allowed to remain indefinitely in the tanoa in order that the inside might acquire an enamelled appearance. This enamel or sheen is called tane. In earlier bowls the legs were tapered towards the botton and reduced there to about a half an inch in diameter. Chiefs and orators, high and low, use the same type of tanoa. At ceremonies, the bowl used is that belonging to the chief or orator at whose house the ceremony is being held.

Great old original 1940's Hula Skirt.....a beauty.....24" in length and in pretty nice condition for age as pictured. SUPER COLLECTORS ITEM.

Hand carved Tribal FETISH Doll....possibly Mambila Tribe from Cameroons Plateau. The figures stands 8 1/2" in height and has a rather tatty and what we assume is it's original Loin Cloth, plus is studded with nails as many of these figures are. It is most definitely a genuine older piece dating to around the early 1900's. Not pretty but very intriguing!

This is an unusually long "PEACOCK" Opium Pipe originating from the LISU Tribe in the Thai mountains. The pipe is made from white metal and the head depicts a Peacock....total length of the pipe is nearly 26 inches. In good condition with the exception of a dent 4" from the mouthpiece....could probably be removed with right tool.

This large and very nicely carved story board measures 20 1/2" x 9 1/2". I would think that this is a "made for the tourist market" item but it is a but it is unusual and is very well done.... a lovely example of native New Guinea carving. Age is probably quite recent..last twenty or thirty years I'd think.

This outstanding, oversized, hand carved wooden Kenyan Fertility comb is a beautiful art piece. It's a bridal comb of two figures, a male and female, locked in arms, representing fertility, beauty and life. Genuine vintage artifact bought in Masai Mara, Kenya. This piece is 19 1/2 x 6 3/4" in size and is made of a light wood that appears to be red-brown in colour but has been stained ebony.

This is a very nice old wooden food bowl from the Pacific area....I cannot place actual area ...looks maybe like fruitwood.....but I suppose an expert could figure out the origin from the markings on rim.Definitely an older item with a lovely patina. Measures 15" x 10" and 3" in height

Beautifully made vintage SAMOAN KAVA BOWL in the form of a SEA TURTLE. This is a good larger sized Kava Bowl being 20 3/4" in length with a maximum width of 14 1/4", and standing 5 3/4" in height. This piece is near perfect...has just one small imperfection to the tail as per pictures.

This is an incredible piece of hand carved wood which we think comes from the islands around Komodo Island in Indonesia. The Komodo Dragon is actually a very large lizard and they are known as "ORAS" by the local villagers. This is a pretty old item...I would think early last century at least ...there are a few old borer holes present (we've treated these), and the wood has the very dark & smooth patina of very old wood. The tongue is forged from steel and this is the part that was used to shave the coconut meat from the inside of the opened shell...note the tongue tip is serrated. The head has been split at the neck at some time and one leg has a small part of the foot part broken off. There is also a chunk missing from under the neck but this looks like it may have been present in the wood when the piece was first carved. The large tail piece was used to either place the foot on, or sit on, to hold the shaver steady when using it. This a genuine old item that measures 25" in length and 19" from foot to foot. It stands some 13" high top the tongue tip. A fascinating and quite rare old piece.

A fabulous old IGBO tribal 'Double Face' MASK. Fashioned in terracotta the mask has been beautifully made and dates to around early to mid 1900's. The mask measures 8" x 7" in size. The Igbo people, also erroneously known as the "Ibo people" (because certain Europeans had difficulty making the /ɡ͡b/ sound) are an indigenous linguistic and cultural people of southern Nigeria. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two unequal sections by the Niger River. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects. The Igbo homeland is almost surrounded on all sides by other ethnic peoples of southern and central Nigeria namely, the Ijaw, Edo, Isoko, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako, Idoma and Ibibio. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. In rural Nigeria, Igbo people work mostly as craftsmen, farmers and traders. The most important crop is the yam; celebrations take place annually to celebrate its harvesting. Other staple crops include cassava and taro. Before British colonial rule, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group. There were variations in culture such as in art styles, attire and religious practices. Various subgroups were organized by clan, lineage, village affiliation, and dialect. There were not many centralized chiefdoms, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs except in kingdoms such as those of the Nri, Arochukwu, Agbor and Onitsha. This political system changed significantly under British colonialism in the early 20th century; Frederick Lugard introduced Eze (kings) into most local communities as "Warrant Chiefs". The Igbo became overwhelmingly Christian under colonization. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is one of the most popular novels to depict Igbo culture and changes under colonialism. By the mid-20th century, the Igbo people developed a strong sense of ethnic identity. Certain conflicts with other Nigerian ethnicities led to Igbo-densely populated Eastern Nigeria seceding to create the independent state of Biafra. The Nigerian Civil War or the Nigerian-Biafran War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970) broke out shortly after. With their defeat, the Republic of Biafra once again was part of Nigeria. MASSOB, a sectarian organization formed in 1999, continues a non-violent struggle for an independent Igbo state. Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave trade, there are descendant ethnic Igbo populations in countries such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, as well as outside Africa. Their exact population outside Africa is unknown, but today many African Americans and Afro Caribbeans are of Igbo descent. According to Liberian historians the fifth president of Liberia Edward James Roye was of Igbo descent.

This is a beauty....a very old genuine native adz which we believe is almost certainly from Papua New Guinea. You see a lot of "souvenir' adze items around but very few genuine old ones like this. Items age very quickly in the heat and humidity of New Guinea but this piece looks to be genuinely early 1900's. The handle measures 20' in length and from the handle tip to bottom of adze stone is 12"

A superb solid hardwood Fighting Club in the BIRDS HEAD Form as used by the native warriors of New Caledonia ..the Kanaks. This beautifully fashioned Club is 29 inches in length and in excellent condition with lovely smooth aged Patina. We date the club as late 1800's to very early 1900's. Rare sought after piece at an excellent low price.

This was apparently bought back to New Zealand from 'The Islands' in the 1920's. It is of Samoan origin and is an unusual light brown colour with 15 legs. Diameter is 10". Quite an unusual Kava Bowl. The rim is carved and has had Lime inserted into the pattern. There is an old repair in the bowl....possibly from a wood knot or just age cracking.

A most unusual old piece consisting of a figure with no body......just a face with legs attached. Definitely an old hand carved item with strong age signs....we date to pre-1950 and quite possibly a lot older. The figure is 2 inches in length and the face part has a width of 7 inches. There is still a good amount of the coloured pigments left on the face mask. There is damage to one foot and also some old borer holes to one leg and one side of face.....we have used BORER CURE on these just to ensure there is no live activity.