The Fake Maori Artefacts of James Edward Little and James Frank Robieson

Abstract

Part One of the thesis deals with the general problem of ethnographic fakes and with a detailed analysis of two fakers. In anthropology the study of ethnographic fakes has been largely neglected. That such fakes warrant investigation is discussed and a terminology for the analysis of ethnographic fakes is given. The present study is based on fake Maori artefacts made by James Edward Little of England, and James Frank Robieson of New Zealand. The social context of their faking was the activity of collecting which involved museums and private collectors. The history of European collecting ethnographic artefacts is surveyed together with an examination of European attitudes toward 'primitive' or 'savage' tribal art. The collection of Maori material culture and attitudes towards Maori artefacts in New Zealand is also surveyed. How Western society became interested in ethnographic material and how collectors were fooled into buying faked specimens is discussed. A detailed analysis of the fakes of Little and Robieson is considered in the light of this wider context of European attitudes and the collecting of ethnographic artefacts. Part Two presents a general account of authentic Maori carving as a baseline with which the fakes of Little and Robieson can be compared. The main characteristics of each faker's carving style and methods of ageing and patination are summarised. The usefulness of an ethnographic context in relation to the identification of fakes is explored. Additional documentary evidence of each faker's activites is then examined and the need to investigate other makers of Maori artefacts, some of which may also be fakes, is briefly considered. Volume Two: A detailed catalogue of selected fakes made by Little and Robieson is provided in Volume Two. This aims to demonstrate their range of fakes and to provide additional information to complement the main study