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Ritual image (to'o) representing the deity Oro

18th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 352
God images (to’o) were bound with a fiber “skin” to encourage deities to temporarily inhabit them. The act of binding was accompanied by the recitation of chants during which the fiber literally caught the chanted words, making them lasting and tangible. Loops of coconut cord on this to’o reference the body: eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The navel, a portal to the sacred interior of the god image, is indicated by a small depression two-thirds of the way down the trunk.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ritual image (to'o) representing the deity Oro
  • Date: 18th century
  • Geography: Tahiti, Society Islands
  • Culture: Maohi people
  • Medium: Wood, coconut fiber
  • Dimensions: H. 18 × W. 3 3/4 × D. 2 3/4 in. (45.7 × 9.5 × 7 cm)
  • Classification: Wood-Sculpture
  • Credit Line:

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979

  • Object Number: 1979.206.1481
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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