Fiji/Fijian Tabua Discussion

[kai]

Hello harvg,

Came across this Tabua, which is over 7" long, and a museum quality specimen.

Congrats, that seems like a unusually large example!

Can you ascertain whether the very attachments of the fibre string are original or have been repaired?

There is an old ink inscription, which I can't quite decipher.....
"To R A Cullien....." ??

Looks like "To R.A.Cullien." to me. Quite likely the name of the recipient of the gift/request - seems like there are more historic examples with inscribed names.

Have you tried online searches for R. A. Cullien? Might well be possible to elucidate the provenance and possibly history of this piece which may very well signify a traditional "cultural contract" between a Fiji community and an outsider (or foreign interest group).

Regards,
Kai