Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, March 12, 2017

RARE HAWAIIAN ARTIFACTS, reputed to be the biggest collection outside the Bishop Museum, will be auctioned in France next month. The 1,100 items from the Rainer Werner Bock collection, including a spear described as acquired by Capt. James Cook circa 1779 and worth about $80,000, will be auctioned over three days in Neuilly-sur-Seine from April 5 through 7. Other items include an 8-inch black, red and yellow feather ornament, a war helmet, a flag from the Kingdom of Hawaiian, fishhooks, and a pahu (war drum). 

     The items were collected by Bock, who was born in Germany and has lived on Maui. He was one of the world’s leading dealers in Pre-Columbian art, who had hoped to open a museum in Maui. He compiled this unique collection of Hawaiian tribal art, including 18th century bowls, regalia, drums, fishing equipment, necklaces in feathers or hair, spears, lances, pestles and many other fascinating objects over a period of 20 years.
     In a promotional brochure, which he sent to The Ka’u Calendar, Julian Roup, a spokesman for the French auction house, Aguttes, described the collection, which also includes items from New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands, and the Solomon Islands.
     “Never before have so many Hawaiian objects been brought together outside of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu,” wrote Roup. “The collection includes some 500 items that speak to us of the daily lives of the people of Polynesia, inhabited for centuries, unknown to the European world until the arrival in 1778 of Captain James Cook.”

A Nineteenth Century rain mantle from Hawai`i will be auctioned off in France.  Photo from Aguttes auction house

     The Ihe Laumeki (barbed wooden spear) was collected by Captain Cook during his third expedition to Hawai’i in 1779- 1780, according to the auction house description, which says it is one of only four such spears to exist in private collections and is valued at about $72,000 to 80,000. A silk flag, which could date from 1845, is a rare remnant of the Hawaiian Kingdom and is valued at $12,000 to 16,000, according to the auction literature.
     The sale contains works never before seen at auction. A war helmet, which was part of a collection assembled by one of the first French scientific expeditions to Hawai’i, was formerly displayed by a French University. Its value is estimated at about $58,000 to 70,000.
     Roup explained that gathering boat models has always been a “highlight, even a cornerstone, of all great collections of Oceanian art. Bock’s collection, which was originally meant for a private or public museum, features some 30 boat models plus two full-scale canoes.
     “As to R.W. Bock’s selection of fishing hooks, it perfectly captures the art of halieutics, with each piece having been carefully chosen for its shining, polished mother-of-pearl, which bears great significance in Oceanian fishing traditions. Oceania comprises the civilizations that, over the centuries, developed the most brilliant mother-of-pearl techniques.

   

A bowl in netting is one of the auction items. Photo from  Aguttes auction house

 “Fishhooks are called “special” when they were kept for ritual fishing, such as a spoon lure for herring bait. Wood was also used in fashioning large hooks for catching shark in particular,” stated Roup.
     Roup calls Brock’s collection “a fantastic voyage from island to island.” His assessment is that the collection “represents the formidable eye of this internationally esteemed art dealer, whose collection of Hawaiian art adds considerably to the world’s knowledge of Polynesia. Rainer Werner Bock, a German who later immigrated to the USA, has always been a tireless traveler and art lover. He fulfilled his dream when he moved to the Hawaiian Islands, where he built up the largest-ever private collection of Hawaiian art.
     “Eager to share his childhood vision with as many people as possible, he worked hard to open a museum on Maui Island, but, regrettably, was not supported by local politicians,” contended Roup.
     Other items in the sale include: A Pahu (war drum), from the Nineteenth Century, with estimated value or $12,000 to 16,000; a Nineteenth Century feather ornament, measuring about 8 inches in diameter with a $9,000 to $10,000 value; a bowl in a hanging net valued at $7,000 to $8,000; a Nineteenth Century rain mantle made from lauhala, with value of $2,500 to $3,200.
     The items will be on exhibit at Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb west of Paris, for a week prior to the three-day auction. This event will be documented by a multiple volume catalog that itself will become collectible and will be an important reference for years to come, said event organizers.
     For more information, contact Julian Roup of Bendigo Communication acting for Aguttes at info@bendigopr.co.uk.