Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Samoan Tattoo Instruments

Hi everyone!!

This is another addition of my Blog.

There are special impliments/instruments used for tattooing in Samoa. These were believed to be invented by their ancesstors, and Samoans are still proud of this invention of their tools, as they have never used any machines which are used by other tattoo artists of today.

The implements' names are as follows:

1. Au - the fine crafted tools or tattooing combs. (these are designed in different widths as they all do different jobs).

The names of different "aus" are:

Au tapulu - This is a wide one used for tattooing large dark areas of the tattoo.
Au sogi aso - Smaller than the "au tapulu" and is used for making thick and thin lines.
Au Mogo - This small one is used to make very tiny marks.
Sausau - This is known as a mallet for tapping the combs (aus)
Tunuma - It is a pot used for keeping the tattoo combs.
Ipu lama - A cup used for holding the dye (ink)
'Au tu'i - It is known as a pestle to grind up the soot (dye)
Lago taafi - is a pillow used to make the part of the tattooed body comfortable (not in the list).

Tattoo instruments mentioned can be viewed in the following websites:

http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=232988&coltype=pacific%20c...

http://www.samoa.co.uk/tattoos.html

http://www.pbs.org/skinstories/artists/index.html

http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/samoa_tattoo_kit.htm


N.B.
A au consists of a small comb with finely sharpened teeth, fixed to a shell plate and a wooden handle. The teeth of this small comb is always made of bones or a boar's teeth and sharpened properly to do the job.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Talofa i lau susuga a le pepa, fa'amolemoe pe mafai ona maua mai se fa'amatalaga o le mafua'aga o le alagaupu lea e maua mau i tagatatau. Lea e fa'apea, ua tuluma e momoe fa'atasi. Fa'amolemole ma le ava tele fa'afetai.