Tapa Sample.

20. A rare letter from the famous William Charles Mariner dated 1828, together with some early tapa samples.

William Charles Mariner’s time in Tonga and his subsequent work were highly significant in preserving one of the most detailed early accounts of Tongan society. After being spared by the Tongan chief Fīnau ʻUlukālala in 1806, Mariner spent four years on the island, during which he gained deep insight into the Tongan way of life, culture, and language. His close interaction with the people, including becoming a part of their community, allowed him to document valuable information that would otherwise have been lost.

Mariner’s memoir, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, is regarded as one of the most important ethnographic works on the Pacific islands of the time. His observations provided a rare look into the indigenous lifestyle, governance, and religion of Tonga before major European influence began to take hold. His linguistic contributions, including a Tongan grammar and dictionary, were crucial for understanding the language, helping future scholars and linguists with their studies of the Pacific region. This work remains an important historical resource for understanding the pre-Christian and pre-European colonial period in the South Pacific.

His experiences as a captive also shaped his perspective, and he was able to contrast Tongan society with European customs, offering both a cultural and comparative analysis. Mariner’s legacy, therefore, is not only in his survival and integration into Tongan society but also in the documentation and preservation of a way of life that was soon to undergo significant change due to external influences.

the samples measure 14cm x 6cm and 4cm x 6cm.

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