This accordion, featuring mother-of-pearl keys, was a common form of entertainment and social interaction in Tahiti in the nineteenth century, before being supplanted by the increasingly popular guitar. This instrument was collected in Tahiti in 1858, and was probably created in England or France around the mid nineteenth century.
Accordion
- Notes
- From card: Mother-of-pearl keys. Dr. Marshall says: "A good representative items of what for generation was the focus of family and other social entertainment in Tahiti and the Society Islands-- supplanted...by the guitar (and in the 1960's by TV)."
- Illus. Fig. 4:1-2, p. 46 in "Accordions in Tahiti - an enigma" by Adrienne L. Kaeppler, in Traditionalism and Modernity in the Music and Dance of Oceania: Essays in Honor of Barbara B. Smith, ed. Helen Reeves Lawrence, 45-66. Sydney: University of Sydney, Oceania Monographs. It is identified there as collected in Tahiti before 1858. It was probably made in England or France and dates between 1830 and 1858. It was owned by John William Henry, a descendant of missionaries William Henry and John Muggridge Orsmond, who brought it to the U.S. in 1858.
- Record Last Modified
- 7 Jul 2021
- Specimen Count
- 1
- Data Source
- NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
- Donor Name
- David D. Thomas
- Accession Date
- 27 Mar 1968
- Object Type
- Accordion
