Suva, Fiji
1880s
Albumen print
5¼ × 4 in. (13.3 × 10.2 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Barbara, CA
W. Dufty's studio portrait shows a Tongan woman of rank dressed in traditional fiber skirt and wearing a beaded choker, holding a woven fan — adornments associated with ceremonial presentation in 19th-century Tongan culture. Dufty operated in Suva during the late 19th century and his Polynesian portraits constitute an early and coherent photographic record of island subjects. The standing pose and painted backdrop follow the conventions of colonial studio portraiture across the Pacific.
The albumen print renders the subject's costume and jewelry with clarity, the warm tonal range of the process bringing out the texture of the fiber garments and the detail of the beadwork at her throat. The woven fan she carries is a recurring accessory in Tongan studio portraits of this period, signaling both status and cultural identity. The piece pairs naturally with Dufty's seated portrait of a similarly ranked subject in the same collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Suva, Fiji
1880s
Albumen print
5¼ × 4 in. (13.3 × 10.2 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Barbara, CA
W. Dufty's studio portrait shows a Tongan woman of rank dressed in traditional fiber skirt and wearing a beaded choker, holding a woven fan — adornments associated with ceremonial presentation in 19th-century Tongan culture. Dufty operated in Suva during the late 19th century and his Polynesian portraits constitute an early and coherent photographic record of island subjects. The standing pose and painted backdrop follow the conventions of colonial studio portraiture across the Pacific.
The albumen print renders the subject's costume and jewelry with clarity, the warm tonal range of the process bringing out the texture of the fiber garments and the detail of the beadwork at her throat. The woven fan she carries is a recurring accessory in Tongan studio portraits of this period, signaling both status and cultural identity. The piece pairs naturally with Dufty's seated portrait of a similarly ranked subject in the same collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
