Specialized record of tattoo patterns and a collection of dried heads
Moko; or Maori Tattooing.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1896.
Price: $2,750.00
About the item
First edition. Frontispiece, 180 illustrations from drawings by the author and from photographs. xxi, 216 pp. 4to. Specialized record of tattoo patterns and a collection of dried heads. A very good copy in original brown pictorial cloth, with Maori tattoo illustration on the covers. Gilt lettering on cover and spine, bookplate of I. Eliot Hodgrin to front pastedown. Extremities rubbed,occasional foxing throughout. Bagnall R856; Hocken p436; An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 1966.
Item #304798
A classic ethnography on the Maoris and the long tradition of tattooing. Profusely illustrated, this valuable history showcases the creativity and craft of the native artists.
In 1863, Major-General Robley (1840-1930) with the 68th Regiment debarked Burma for New Zealand. In the following April, Robley took his troops to join General Cameron's forces attacking Gate Pa in Tauranga. During the 19 months he remained there with his troops, he became fascinated with the Maori people and executed a series of sketches of Maori life and tattoo patterns, as well as documenting the process practiced to preserve the tattooed heads of chiefs. "On these two subjects he regarded himself as an authority, a claim not to be disputed provided we bear in mind that his awareness was that of a curio collector, and not that of a scholar”-William John Phillipps
Hocken refers to plans for a second edition in 1909 which was never published.
