prmlogo2Cook-Voyage Collections
at the Pitt Rivers Museum

1886.1.1183 .1

PRM0001324505179Quiver, piha, of bamboo, from the Society Islands (probably Tahiti); part of the Forster collection (part of Forster 41; 1886.1.1183)

Quiver made from a length of bamboo cane. The upper end is open, the lower is closed by a natural inter-node. There are three rows of pyroengraved figures near the open end of the quiver. These consist of a row of three half circles with serrated edges, which may represent pearl shells, a rectangle and four triangles with forked tops (food pounders? stylized human figures?) and three rectangles. The stopper is made from hardwood, and a hole is drilled on the underside to allow attachment to a plaited coconut fibre cord. The cord ran down inside the quiver, emerging from a hole approximately 250 mm from the top. The cord was knotted, so that the stopper was attached to the quiver, and could be pulled into place by pulling on the cord. A further length of plaited coconut fibre is wound around the quiver, able to move freely; this may have been part of the cord used to secure the stopper

 

  PRM0001304775179Quiver (with scale)
PRM0001304785179Detail of pyroengraved decoration on quiver
PRM0001304795179Detail of stopper on quiver
PRM0001304805179Detail of stopper on quiver
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