AN EASTER ISLAND GORGET, REI MIRO

AN EASTER ISLAND GORGET, REI MIRO
POLYNESIA, 19th CENTURY
wood, of crescent form with a shallow recessed crescent to the centre, the top chanelled and with two attachment holes through to the curved edge back, with head terminals, one part missing, with raised brows, almond shape eyes with recessed pupils, pursed lips and a grooved goatee,
26cm wide, 11.5cm high

Ever since Captain James Cook's stopover on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in 1774, some fifty years after the European naming of the Island, on Easter Sunday, carvings had been the subject of regular transactions. From 1868 onwards, with the success of missionary settlements, these works lost their indigenous power of worship. The people of Rapa Nui traded their ceremonial objects with the visiting sailors, keen to acquire these mysterious pieces and present to museums and collectors. Classified, simply as pectorals, it wasn't until 1882 when Quartermaster Weisser received a "Reimiro, pectoral of the king of Rapanui, dating from 250-300 years ago" and was "worn on the chest by the chiefs during dances."

Rei miro translates as 'necklace of wood,' and it wasn't until 1914 that Katherine Routledge added that it "was more particularly a feminine decoration...some of the smallest worn by Ngaara" [the last king on the island.] This established the Rei miro was worn by both sexes, at feasts and other important occasions, where they served as insignia of noble birth, with a single gorget worn by the women and up to six worn by the supreme king, Akiri Mau, two on the chest and another two on each shoulder.

The distinct crescent form with shaped terminals, carved as anthropomorphic heads, cetacean tails, fish and poultry heads, have never been fully interpreted, but the overall shape could resemble the crescent moon, a boat or a marine animal's tail.

The thickly browed hollowed eyes, long nose and goatee beard seen on the terminal of this lot have a strong ancestor quality seen in the Moai Kavakava figures. The carvers skill in achieving elegant lines between the differing planes, from one subtly convex surface with the worn attachment holes up through the grooved top and then the flatter surface with its slender 'smile' crescent, the points continuing in a fine ridge to the head terminals, are all testament to a noble and prestigious insignia reserved for the highest aristocracy of Easter Island.