Headband
| Culture | Enata (Marquesan) |
|---|---|
| Title | Headband (Uhikana) |
| Date | 19th century |
| Medium | Pearl shell, turtle shell, and and fiber |
| Dimensions | Overall: 5 3/8 × 19 3/16 × 2 3/4 in. (13.7 × 48.7 × 7 cm) Object (includes mount): 6 3/8 × 19 3/16 × 2 3/4 in. (16.2 × 48.7 × 7 cm) |
| Credit Line | Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 2010.7 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
A headband with a woven, fibrous band, a circular shell form at the center, and two smaller shell forms, one on either side of the central shell. The shells are white with intricately carved details added in black and tan shell.
The contrast between the dark turtle shell and the light color of certain seashells must have been admired by the people of the Marquesas Islands, for their two most elaborate headdress types, the headband shown here and the coronet (paekaha), prominently feature a combination of those materials. James Cook, the eighteenth-century British explorer who stopped at the Marquesas Islands in 1774, referred to the headbands as the Marquesan people’s major headdress and “chief ornament,” noting that feathers were attached upright to the bands, adding greater height and prominence. The uhikana seems to have been a male headdress, worn by chiefs, warriors, and male dancers.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Headband | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2010.7