EXPLANATION OF PLATES 



Plate 1 

 Ethnic areas in Oceania. 



Plates 2 and 3 



Marionettes of cut leather and carved wood from Java. 



The small hand and rod operated puppets of the Javanese represent their 

 ancient culture heroes and the creatures of Hindu mythology. Those of 

 cut leather (U.S.N.M. No. 16S224), illustrated in Plate 3, are called wayang 

 purv.-a, while a more recent form of marionette is known as the wayang 

 klitik. The latter is shaped from wood, is rod operated, and is used in 

 puppet shows glorifying historical characters of the ancient Malay kingdom 

 of Majapahit. The wayang figures are used in shadow pictures accompa- 

 nied by a monologue of the operator. Appropriate music is rendered by an 

 orchestra of bamboo xylophones and brass gougs. The gongs are often 

 exquisite examples of Malay metal craft and decorative art, while the 

 wayang combines decorative art and theatrical amusement. The wayang 

 of carved wood is illustrated as dressed in decorated Javanese batik cloth. 

 U.S.N.M. Nos. 168225, 168227 from the World's Columbian Exposition, 

 Chicago, 1893. Related forms of the marionette occur iu Burma, Siam, and 

 southeastern Asia generally. The hulu marionette of the Hawaiian Islands 

 is distinct in symbolism and expressed art. 



Plate 4 

 Hawaiian royal feather cape. 



Plate 5 



Woven cloak of the Maori, New Zealand. 



Plates 6-9 



Tapa cloth from Samoa, Hawaii, Fiji, and Santa Cruz Islands. 



The stamped decorative designs are based on alligator patterns and other 

 motives taken from life forms. These have been conventionalized and are 

 broken up into their component parts to fit the requirements of the space to 

 be decorated. 



Plate 10 



Decorative art of the Maori of New Zealand. 



Polynesian art, more particularly tliat of the Maori, is manifest essentially 

 in wood carving, also in tattoo marks. Mummified Maori heads on which 

 the skin and hair remain intact are in the National collection along with 

 other Maori art objects, such as wooden dressing boxes, carved sections of 

 wooden house posts, carved and inlaid feeding funnels, and carved combs 

 of whalebone. These were collected principally by Lieutenant Wilkes, 

 United States Navy, in 1838. 



Maori wood carver's art is illustrated by engraved double spirals in flat 

 relief, also by shell inset. The repeated use of the eye form as a decorative 

 device resembles the art of the Haida Indians of British Columbia and of 

 southeastern Alaska. 



The objects of carved wood illustrated are dressing boxes, U.S.N.M. 

 Nos. 3785, 3786, collected by Lieutenant Wilkes, United States Navy, from 

 the Maori of New Zealand. 



60993—31 4 47 



