GENERAL DESCRIPTION
On the island of Leti, ritual dances featured a small sculpture representing the head of an animal. The dancer held the masklike object in his mouth by the tab extending from the back of the head. Only three examples are known to have survived, two masks in European museum collections, which represent pigs, and this mask, which depicts a bird, perhaps a pigeon or rooster.
The mouth masks are associated with a distinctive fertility ritual called porka, the goals of which were increase and abundance among human beings, animals, and plants as well as the renewal of creation. In its original form, the ritual cycle began with a headhunting raid and accorded sexual freedom to unmarried people during certain phases. Formerly celebrated at seven-year intervals and times of disaster, the porka ritual survived, with changes, during the 20th century as a New Year’s celebration. It is thought that the last complete ritual was performed between 1850 and 1860.
Adapted from
Carol Robbins, Label text, All the World's a Stage: Celebrating Performance in the Visual Arts, 2009.
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PROVENANCE
1972: Bernard M. Tursch, Brussels, collected at Luhuleli, Leti
1997: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc. (accessioned: October 28, 1997), pruchased from Pacific American Corp (Steven G. Alpert) [1]
[1] Works of art given or purchased by The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization, are placed in the custody of the DMA for the purpose of public display on the premises of the Museum or in other recognized art galleries or museums. The title to all works of art purchased (or otherwise acquired) by the McDermott Art Fund remains with the Fund.
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General Description
On the island of Leti, ritual dances featured a small sculpture representing the head of an animal. The dancer held the masklike object in his mouth by the tab extending from the back of the head. Only three examples are known to have survived, two masks in European museum collections, which represent pigs, and this mask, which depicts a bird, perhaps a pigeon or rooster.
The mouth masks are associated with a distinctive fertility ritual called porka, the goals of which were increase and abundance among human beings, animals, and plants as well as the renewal of creation. In its original form, the ritual cycle began with a headhunting raid and accorded sexual freedom to unmarried people during certain phases. Formerly celebrated at seven-year intervals and times of disaster, the porka ritual survived, with changes, during the 20th century as a New Year’s celebration. It is thought that the last complete ritual was performed between 1850 and 1860.
Adapted from
Carol Robbins, Label text, All the World's a Stage: Celebrating Performance in the Visual Arts, 2009.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1972: Bernard M. Tursch, Brussels, collected at Luhuleli, Leti
1997: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc. (accessioned: October 28, 1997), pruchased from Pacific American Corp (Steven G. Alpert) [1]
[1] Works of art given or purchased by The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization, are placed in the custody of the DMA for the purpose of public display on the premises of the Museum or in other recognized art galleries or museums. The title to all works of art purchased (or otherwise acquired) by the McDermott Art Fund remains with the Fund.
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