House Wall Panel (poupou)
- Date
- c.1870
- Material
- Wood and haliotis shell
- made in
- New Zealand, Oceania
- Classification
- Architectural elements, sculpture
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 107
- Dimensions
- 96 5/8 × 18 7/8 × 3 15/16 in. (245.4 × 47.9 × 10 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 88:1977.1
NOTES
Multiple figures intertwine across the surface of this carved panel while the figures’ bodies are also covered with interlaced patterns. The complex composition challenges our ability to distinguish one figure from the other. Between the large figures’ legs, small figures emerge, evoking the act of giving birth or the succession of generations.
This "poupou," or carved panel, belongs to a group of 46 that were created to form the framework of a large Maori meeting house, which ultimately was never constructed. Supporting the rafters, this solid panel would alternate with lattice openwork panels. "Wharenui" (meeting houses) are considered to be the property of the local community and function as a space for important gatherings, such as weddings and "tangihanga," or death ceremonies.
Provenance
- 1899
Frank Hyams, Dunedin, New Zealand; London, England
1899 -
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827-1900), Dorset and Wiltshire, England, purchased from Frank Hyams; Alexander Edward Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers (1855-1927), by inheritance; George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (1890-1966), by inheritance; Stella Edith Pitt-Rivers (d. 1994), by inheritance [1]
- 1972
Monte-Cristo Shipping & Trading Company, Geneva, Switzerland
1972 - 1977
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Monte-Cristo Shipping & Trading Company, through agent James Economos [2]
1977 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Morton D. May [3]
Notes:
[1] A handwritten entry in the inventory book dated November 1899 identifies this panel was "bought of Frank Hyams, Dunedin, New Zealand, Nov 1899" [copy of inventory entry provided by Cambridge University, SLAM document files]. Stella Lonsdale never married George Pitt-Rivers, but took his last name and inherited his estate upon his death in 1966. The collection at the Farnham Museum was sold shortly after.
[2] An invoice dated December 8, 1972 documents the purchase of this object [with 88:1977.2], listed as "Two carved wooden houseposts representing ancestral effigies / Maori Art, New Zealand / Original ethnographical works of art, well over 50 years old" [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[3] A letter dated March 1, 1977 from Morton D. May to James N. Wood, director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, includes the offer of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1977.
Frank Hyams, Dunedin, New Zealand; London, England
1899 -
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827-1900), Dorset and Wiltshire, England, purchased from Frank Hyams; Alexander Edward Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers (1855-1927), by inheritance; George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (1890-1966), by inheritance; Stella Edith Pitt-Rivers (d. 1994), by inheritance [1]
- 1972
Monte-Cristo Shipping & Trading Company, Geneva, Switzerland
1972 - 1977
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Monte-Cristo Shipping & Trading Company, through agent James Economos [2]
1977 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Morton D. May [3]
Notes:
[1] A handwritten entry in the inventory book dated November 1899 identifies this panel was "bought of Frank Hyams, Dunedin, New Zealand, Nov 1899" [copy of inventory entry provided by Cambridge University, SLAM document files]. Stella Lonsdale never married George Pitt-Rivers, but took his last name and inherited his estate upon his death in 1966. The collection at the Farnham Museum was sold shortly after.
[2] An invoice dated December 8, 1972 documents the purchase of this object [with 88:1977.2], listed as "Two carved wooden houseposts representing ancestral effigies / Maori Art, New Zealand / Original ethnographical works of art, well over 50 years old" [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[3] A letter dated March 1, 1977 from Morton D. May to James N. Wood, director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, includes the offer of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1977.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.