According to journalist Nicholas Thomas (magazine Apollo), the Museum of Tahiti and the Islands will recover the sculpture dating, so far exhibited at the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (MAA).
The inventory dated the same year 1771 describes an ornamental sculpture made of ficus wood, in which are represented two anthropomorphic figures with two faces, and an animal. It is a common composition in Oceanian art that combines vision and power.
The cultural origin of this sculpture and its provenance having led to confusion, the MMA appraised it in 2016.
The analysis of the wood made it possible not only to affirm that the work came from Tahiti, but also that it had was conceived between 50 and 80 years before the arrival of James Cook.
For the first time in 250 years, it is truly accessible to Islanders, an awesome presence among its home communities.
