Object Details
Donor Name
David D. Thomas
Notes
From card: Mother-of-pearl keys. Dr. Marshall says: "A good representative items of what for generation was the focus of family and other social entertainment in Tahiti and the Society Islands-- supplanted...by the guitar (and in the 1960's by TV)."
Illus. Fig. 4:1-2, p. 46 in "Accordions in Tahiti - an enigma" by Adrienne L. Kaeppler, in Traditionalism and Modernity in the Music and Dance of Oceania: Essays in Honor of Barbara B. Smith, ed. Helen Reeves Lawrence, 45-66. Sydney: University of Sydney, Oceania Monographs. It is identified there as collected in Tahiti before 1858. It was probably made in England or France and dates between 1830 and 1858. It was owned by John William Henry, a descendant of missionaries William Henry and John Muggridge Orsmond, who brought it to the U.S. in 1858.
Record Last Modified
7 Jul 2021
Specimen Count
1
Culture
Polynesian
Accession Date
27 Mar 1968
Accession Number
277609
USNM Number
E409679-0
Object Type
Accordion
Place
Tahiti, Society Islands, France, Polynesia
See more items in
Anthropology
Data Source
NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
Topic
Ethnology
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmnhanthropology_8439937