An Early Priest’s Oil Dish ‘dari ni waiwai nio bete’
An Early Priest’s Oil Dish ‘dari ni waiwai nio bete’
Dry surface with fine patina (old losses)
Wood
Fiji
Late 18th / Early 19th Century
SIZE: 6cm high, 44cm wide, 23cm deep - 2⅓ ins high, 17⅓ ins wide, 9 ins deep / 44.5cm high - 17½ ins high (with base)
Dry surface with fine patina (old losses)
Wood
Fiji
Late 18th / Early 19th Century
SIZE: 6cm high, 44cm wide, 23cm deep - 2⅓ ins high, 17⅓ ins wide, 9 ins deep / 44.5cm high - 17½ ins high (with base)
The finely carved sacred ‘vesi’ wood, classic ‘spade-form’ dish raised upon tripod feet with a square handle. A rich old dry patina has developed over many years of use from the priest anointing himself with coconut oil, prior to invoking ‘his’ God.
Ex Private English collection
cf: for another ‘oil dish’ see Finch and Co no. 100, catalogue no. 4, 2004
cf: for another ‘oil dish’ see Finch and Co no. 100, catalogue no. 4, 2004
An Early Priest’s Oil Dish ‘dari ni waiwai nio bete’
