M0000036: Toi moko: head of a Maori, with moko (tattoo) markings

Previous title, replaced May 2020: Tattooed head of Maori.

The head is detached. It was purchased by Sir Henry Wellcome from Horatio Robley in December 1909 and subsequently displayed in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, London in the 1920s. It was accessioned in 1936 and given accession number R6065/1936. The photograph was included in the catalogue for an exhibition illustrating the medicine of the aboriginal peoples in the British Commonwealth, London 1952. Related images: M0012648

Human remains believed to be of Maori/Moriori ancestral origins that were held by Wellcome were repatriated in 2013.

03 June 1929

1 photograph glass plate negative; 12 x 16.5 cm

Wellcome Collection holds a print of the image: 645971i as well as another photograph of the same head: 645972i

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2020.

This item has been digitised but is not available online. Email collections@wellcomecollection.org to request access.