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Small toggles of this type, called ivi po’o, were used to secure the human hair or fibre bindings on slings, calabashes, shell trumpets and other ritual objects. They are carved in human limb bone in the form of the head and upper body of a stylised figure.

This example may be regarded as representative, having neatly carved features, pierced arms and a small raised square panel on the back of the head, engraved with either two or three curving lines enclosing each corner. The characteristic Marquesan ‘spectacle’ eye form and inverted T nose are clearly rendered. No attempt has been made to achieve proportion, the head instead being strongly emphasised.

Steven Hooper, 1997

Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, Vol. 2: Pacific, African and Native North American Art, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997) p. 28.