A'a

"This world-renowned sculpture is a unique figure in Polynesian art. An image of a deified ancestor, A'a was created sometime before 1821 on the island of Rurutu. Thirty dynamic figures stud his body, and the excellence of his craftsmanship suggests that his hollow interior once contained something of great cultural importance. Research undertaken ahead of the forthcoming exhibition revealed a small red feather lodged inside the statue and encouraged the curators to begin a range of scientific tests that had been unavailable to previous generations. Their revelations about the meaning and function of A'a are published here for the first time."--Publishers description.