Nearly 900 colossal anthropomorphic stone statues delineated and oversaw the playgrounds of the festive ceremonies on Easter Island. Participants used a variety of wood accessories ranging in style from the very fine expression of the ancestral figures to the sublime simplification of the flat paddles of dance including ao and rapa.
The large ao were reserved for dignitaries. Shorter and thinner, rapa were used in pairs by virtuoso dancers who twirled them, one in each hand. They have no equivalent in other tribal cultures. The largest rapa are 1.20 m long.
The rapa is a thin cylinder used as a handle with a flat blade at each end. The upper part has the outline of a head with protuberances for the ear ornaments. The facial features drawn identically on both sides consist only of the geometrically perfect double arch of nose and eyebrows. The pear shaped lower part is the abdomen. It is extended by a phallus. Limbs are absent.
A 82 cm rapa was sold for € 1.9M including premium by Sotheby's in Paris on December 10, 2014 over a lower estimate of € 300K.
In the same auction room on December 12 a set of two rapa 78 and 71 cm overall that were probably already a pair before their collection is estimated € 1M, lot 7. Only one of them has the phallus.
SOLD for € 3.9M including premium
The large ao were reserved for dignitaries. Shorter and thinner, rapa were used in pairs by virtuoso dancers who twirled them, one in each hand. They have no equivalent in other tribal cultures. The largest rapa are 1.20 m long.
The rapa is a thin cylinder used as a handle with a flat blade at each end. The upper part has the outline of a head with protuberances for the ear ornaments. The facial features drawn identically on both sides consist only of the geometrically perfect double arch of nose and eyebrows. The pear shaped lower part is the abdomen. It is extended by a phallus. Limbs are absent.
A 82 cm rapa was sold for € 1.9M including premium by Sotheby's in Paris on December 10, 2014 over a lower estimate of € 300K.
In the same auction room on December 12 a set of two rapa 78 and 71 cm overall that were probably already a pair before their collection is estimated € 1M, lot 7. Only one of them has the phallus.
SOLD for € 3.9M including premium
Exposition d’un chef-d’œuvre inédit, du 13 au 22 octobre @SothebysFr https://t.co/500XfNPZCB pic.twitter.com/igvobAElJr
— Tribal Art magazine (@TribalArtMag) October 13, 2017
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