Product Details

The Art Of Tonga

Ko e ngaahi'aati'o Tonga

Authoritative and accessible, The Art of Tonga is lavishly illustrated with superb and important examples of Tongan art from throughout its history. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the magnificent cultures of Oceania.

In The Art of Tonga, Keith St. Cartmail's achievement is to draw together all the strands of this island kingdom's material culture into a single volume--surprisingly no other work has done this to date. The author begins by outlining the history of Tonga, then comprehensively details all aspects of Tongan art, ancient and modern. He clearly documents the significance and widespread influence of this beautiful art work through West Polynesia, and argues that despite recent neglect, and in spite of being mutilated and destroyed by missionaries, and dispersed by collectors to all corners of the earth, Tongan art is nonetheless alive and well.

Tongan art, with its elegant sculpture, headrests, body adornment, clubs, containers, tools and fibre work, has made an outstanding contribution to the culture of Oceania. This book is very well presented with a nice selection of well-photographed Tongan art,and has an interesting and informative text. The chapters are (1) Historical Background (2) The Dispersal Of Polynesian Art (3) The Tongan Household (4) Tongan Headrests (5) Human Figure Sculpture (6) Domestic Containers (7) Food Hooks (8) Adzes (9) Fibre Craftsmanship (10) Tattooing (11) Adornment (12) Fishing & Fish Hooks (13) Canoe Building (14) Tongan Music, Dance, Poetry (15) Fly Whisks (16) Weapons & Warfare (17) Tongan Art Today (18) Tongan Art Tomorrow.

Softcover with flaps, 11.25" x 8.25", 152 pages, 2 maps, 99 photos mostly in color, Bibliography, Index. By Keith St Cartmail

 

$59.00 NZD - Sold Out

(all pricing is in NZ Dollars and inclusive of GST)

Code: 2014051

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