Pacific cultural curios in spotlight

The Duchess of Sussex inspects a carved musical instrument at the opening of the Oceania exhibition. Photo / AP

Oceania, the Royal Academy's celebration of the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's first voyage to the Pacific Islands, is a visual treat. From the intricately carved long wooden boats, to feathered and mother-of-pearl decorated garments and totemic sculpted figures, it evokes a mystical, cultural aesthetic that almost disappeared in the post-colonial era. The show is so appealing that it can only stimulate the desire to own or trade in similar, astonishing artefacts.

This, though, may have been far from the curators' intentions. The exhibition does not include privately owned items that might be for sale.

At a symposium staged for the event, a speaker remarked that the show should not serve to raise the value of a dealer's stock. The discussion on collecting was concerned more with justifying the formation of the museum collections from which the exhibition has borrowed.

The exhibition opened last month in London. The Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Pacific Peoples Carmel Sepuloni was among those representing New Zealand at the opening, which was attended by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

Sepuloni said at the time it was a privilege to share with the royal family a bit of the New Zealand and Pacific culture.

"It's an honour to have the Duchess of Sussex at the opening of Oceania. The exhibition is a stunning display of the Pacific region's art and culture and will provide rich insights before the Duke and Duchess' Royal tour of New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Tonga."

One of the papers given at the symposium detailed several Dutch collections that were formed as a result of the activities of the Dutch East India Company during the 1790s.

While looting did take place, many of the works were acquired legitimately through gift or exchange. The footnotes in the catalogue describing methods of acquisition and by whom make compelling reading.

Fortunately, there are no disputes concerning the repatriation of cultural artefacts to the Pacific Islands at present. The show can, therefore, move on and vindicate Captain Cook, his colleagues and the stream of explorers, scientists and ethnographers who followed, and the safeguarding roles museums have played.

Regarded at first as curios and then as neatly categorised objects of ethnographical interest, they have subsequently become accepted as art, which has enhanced their value.

In the first half of the 20th century, these artefacts were much coveted by the European surrealists — André Breton, André Masson and Max Ernst to name but a few.

Anthony Meyer, a dealer in Oceanic art, cites the outing of Jacques Chirac as a collector of tribal art 25 years ago as a key moment in its popularisation. A wing of the Louvre became devoted to it and, in 2006, the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac was opened to specialise in it.

The market is growing in value. Last year, €27 million ( $47.6 million) of Oceanic art was sold at auction. The highest price was €6.34 million for a Hawaiian carving from the late 18th century.

The sculpture is dwarfed by a 2.75m carving of the same god lent to the RA by the British Museum.

Also at the Royal Academy is a 1.6m, early-20th-century Uli figure on loan from the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands.

Uli, statues of clan leaders, are especially desirable among Oceanic collectors. Scholars believe there are only 255 of them extant, fewer than 25 of which date from before the 19th century, when the Germans introduced metal carving implements to the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, where the sculptures come from.

Not everything goes for millions. At a sale in Salisbury last month, some Oceanic items could be bought for just a few hundred pounds. Later this month, in Paris, the collection of pharmacist Elizabeth Pryce will be sold by Sotheby's, with items estimated from as low as €100 ($176) for a feathered tribal hair comb.

It may not have been the RA's intention, but Oceania goes a long way towards validating the values attached to these cultural curios.

- Telegraph Media Group