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Easter Island Tattoos
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Portrait and profile views of Juan Tepano, 1880s.
Engravings after the drawing of Hjalmar Stolpe, a Swedish ethnographer. |
Carte-de-visite of Juan Tepano,
a Rapa Nui nobleman, 1870s. |
Stylistic frigate bird tattoo. This
motif appeared
on tapa figures
and human skin, specifically on
Juan Tepano's throat, 1880's.
Illustration by Hjalmar Stolpe. |
Portrait and profile views of Ana Eva Hei,
the wife of one of the last "kings" of
Easter Island, 1911 |
Sketch of a fully-tattooed tapa barkcloth figure. The swooping, plunging frigate bird tattooed on back above buttock
(center view) is symbolic of war and headhunting.
Tapa barkcloth figure (manu usu). 'Ao paddle tattoo prominently marks the torso and back. These tattoos were seen on one old woman living on the island as late as 1930. Tapa figures may have functioned as receptacles for ancestral spirits. |
Tapa barkcloth figure (manu usu). Reeds,
barkcloth and paint, 19th century. 40 cm.
Note neck, facial and torso tattoos |
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