Inscribed Wooden Tablet

Object Details

Collector

Maj. William J. Thomson

Donor Name

U. S. Department of the Navy

Expedition

Mohican Survey of Easter Island

Vessel

U.S.S. Mohican

INSCRIBED WOODEN TABLET OBTAINED BY W. J. THOMSON, PAYMASTER OF THE U.S. NAVY SHIP 'MOHICAN' IN EASTER ISLAND, DECEMBER 1886. TABLET WAS PURCHASED FROM MR. A. A. SALMON [a.k.a. Tati Salmon], A EUROPEAN SETTLER AND LONG-TIME RESIDENT OF EASTER ISLAND. THOMSON STATES TABLET IS MADE OF NATIVE TOROMIRO WOOD. TABLET IS DISCUSSED AND ILLUSTRATED IN THE USNM ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1889 (PP. 514, 520, 537). TRANSFERRED FROM ETHNOLOGY TO ARCHEOLOGY ON MAY 2, 1933. FORMERLY ON EXHIBIT NMNH HALL 8, PACIFIC CULTURES HALL, CASE/UNIT 4 "EASTER ISLAND" FROM 1962 TO 2005 (EXCEPT WHEN OUT ON LOAN TO METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 1984-1985). 3 PLASTER CASTS [A129773-1] MADE SHOWING BOTH REVERSE AND OBVERSE SIDES.

This rongorongo tablet or board is sometimes referred to as the Atua Mata Riri tablet. It is also known as the Small Washington tablet. It is illus. Fig. 48, p. 76, in "Splendid Isolation: Art of Easter Island" by Eric Kjellgren, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press, 2001, and identified there as an inscribed tablet (kohau rongorongo).

From card for 129773-4: "Engraved with shark's tooth. Transferred to Div. Archeology May 2, 1933." From second card formerly in Ethnology card file: "No. 129,773: Illus. in USNM AR, 1889; Pl. 38 and 39 [after p. 520]. Translation on p. 520; note on p. 537. Description of acquisition on Easter Island p. 514. Cast made and sent to Musee d' Ethnographic [sic, should be Musee d' Ethnographie, Paris], May, 1933. Loaned to Metropolitan Museum of Art 8-1-84. Returned from Metropolitan Museum of Art 10-4-1985."

See Kaeppler, Adrienne. 2001. "A Photograph is Worth A Thousand Words" in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific. Christopher M. Stevenson, et. al, eds. See Horley, Paul. 2021. Rongorongo: Inscribed Objects from Rapa Nui. Viña del Mar, Chile: Rapanui Press; in particular see pp. 299-308.

Record Last Modified

17 Nov 2023

Specimen Count

1

Culture

Rapanui (Easter Islander)

Accession Date

19 Apr 1890

Collection Date

18 Dec 1886 to 31 Dec 1886

Accession Number

023098

USNM Number

A129773-0

Object Type

Tablet

Length - Object

24.1 cm

Weight - Object

187.5 g

Place

Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile, Polynesia

See more items in

Anthropology

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Topic

Archaeology

Record ID

nmnhanthropology_8010183

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/31d646267-9fdf-40e2-a8ca-abbde4f975bc