REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: French Polynesia—Tahiti (French overseas territory)
YEAR PRINTED: 2020
VALUE: 100 CFP francs
This stamp celebrates a mask of the Polynesian people inhabiting the Tahitian islands, a French overseas territory. This type comes from the Mangarevan people who inhabit the island of Hikueru in the Tuamotu archipelago. This specific mask was collected by a French historian around 1900 and is exhibited in the Museum of Tahiti and the Islands in Papeete. It is made of coconut tree wood and would have been worn by orators relating stories about the King of the Sea, Tutepoganui, whom the mask is thought to represent.
