Bow, fana, of wood, from the Society Islands (probably Tahiti); part of the Forster collection (Forster 42; 1886.1.1485)

Bow made of a light wood, possibly breadfruit (uru, Artocarpus incisa) or hibiscus (purau, Hibiscus tiliaceus). The bow is oval in cross section in the centre, and slightly flattened on the front side. he bow tapers towards the ends, and becomes more circular in cross section. The string is missing, and there are no obvious points at the end of the bow where the string would have been attached. The binding at the centre of the bow is a three-ply braid of coconut fibre, wrapped to form an area 14 cm in length. The wrapping is made up of two distinct braids, one finer than the other. Under the binding is a packing material of some kind, said to be fish skin but this could not be confirmed after examination under the microscope

• Museum database entry.