Oceania
Marquesas Islands
Fan, Tahi
Pandanus fiber, whale ivory, human teeth, pigment
H. 22 1/2 in. (57.2 cm)
Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection

Throughout Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, elaborately decorated utilitarian objects often serve as emblems of status and sometimes also as insignias of rank. Important men and women of the Marquesas Islands used large fans with embellished handles. This one, with a handle made of ivory, a precious material, may also have been an insignia of rank for a female chief. Like other Polynesian objects made of precious materials, fans such as this would have become heirlooms, passed down through generations.