Taumi (Breast ornament)

Breast ornament made over a woven vegetal fibre base, with three rows of shark teeth tied to the support and four mother-of-pearl discs close to the upper border. There are hair remains tied to the external perimeter. It has four strips of fibre as a suspension element. This type of Polynesian pectoral is used in Tahiti (Society Islands). This is an ornament of prestige worn by the tribal chief and his highest-ranking followers during the battles fought from canoes. It is made with a basket support, usually in coir, and decorated with goods which are difficult to obtain and which transmit the high social status of the bearer, such as shark teeth or mother-of-pearl shells. In this case there is practically no dog hair, which is usually tied to the external border of the pectoral. Normally only one taumi was worn on the chest although sometimes there could be two, one on the chest and another one in the back. In an engraving from the British Library made from a drawing made during James Cook’s second trip, there is a woman wearing two taumi over her tapa cloth as offerings.