Marquesas Ironwood Ceremonial Stilt Step ‘Tapuvae’

Period: 1800-1900

Origin: Marquesas Islands

Medium: Wood

Literature: These curious stilts were attached to long poles of lighter wood and used by the Marquesans in special competitions held as part of important ritual funerary rites for men of rank and status. Special races and individual contests took place in which the participants attempted to knock one another to the ground. They are one of the most distinctive of Marquesas art forms and were made by special craftsmen known as ‘Tuhuka Vaeake’. The shallow striated lines covering the body of the tiki suggests tattooing. The headband and curved section above the figure probably represents the shape of a feather headdress.
Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff writing in his ‘Voyages and Travels…’ published in 1813 wrote: ‘The best runners on stilts, who perform at the public dancing festivals are tabooed for three days before; they do not, in consequence, go out, are well fed and have no intercourse with their wives. This is probably with a view to increasing their strength….’