GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Malagan is the name for the elaborate funerary ceremonies and feasts to honor the dead in New Ireland, and it is also the term used to describe the masks and sculptures made for the ceremonies. The eyes of most malagan masks and sculptures are made from the round, pigmented valve of a sea snail, but the eyes of this mask are obsidian. It may represent a ges spirit, a person’s spirit double that lives in the bush and is usually invisible. The powerful ges spirits were potentially destructive and might attack human beings who inadvertently saw them.
Adapted from
- Label text.
NOTES
1880s or slightly before, around the earliest period that sculpture left the island in any numbers - Louise Lincoln, MIA, in correspondence to Carol Robbins, December 31, 1986
Notes in correspondence between John Lunsford and Dr. Dieter Heintze (Ubersee-Musuem, Bremen, dated March 31 1982 - from the former to the latter
"One of the masks seems to be from the eighties of the last century, i.e. a fairly old piece. The inscription still says "Neu Irland": The island was re-baptized "New Mecklenburg" in 1886, therefore the masks may well have been collected in the early eighties. Furthermore, the small island of Nusa was one of the earliest trading post established in New Ireland (by a trader employed by Hernsheim & Co., in 1880)." p.2
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PROVENANCE
n.d.: Klaus Clausmeyer Collection, Dusseldorf
1966: Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Koln
1967: Robert Stolper & Morton Lipkin, London
1975: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts purchased from Morton Lipkin [1]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the Collections Records object card in the Collections Records object file (1975.12).
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Tribal Trust, YouTube~Watch Mathew Salle, a carver on Tabar Islands in Papua New Guinea, make a traditional malagan sculpture.
- Tribal Trust, YouTube~Watch an interview of Edward Salle, a traditional owner of Malangan on theTabar Islands in Papua New Guinea.
- Encyclopedia Britannica~Read about the climate, people, culture, and history of Papua New Guinea.
- Encyclopedia Britannica~Learn more about the region of Oceania.
- National Museums Scotland~Explore resources about arts of the Oceania region of the Pacific.
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TEACHING IDEAS
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Apply to objects where number equals 1975.12
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General Description
Malagan is the name for the elaborate funerary ceremonies and feasts to honor the dead in New Ireland, and it is also the term used to describe the masks and sculptures made for the ceremonies. The eyes of most malagan masks and sculptures are made from the round, pigmented valve of a sea snail, but the eyes of this mask are obsidian. It may represent a ges spirit, a person’s spirit double that lives in the bush and is usually invisible. The powerful ges spirits were potentially destructive and might attack human beings who inadvertently saw them.
Adapted from
- Label text.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Tribal Trust, YouTube~Watch Mathew Salle, a carver on Tabar Islands in Papua New Guinea, make a traditional malagan sculpture.
- Tribal Trust, YouTube~Watch an interview of Edward Salle, a traditional owner of Malangan on theTabar Islands in Papua New Guinea.
- Encyclopedia Britannica~Read about the climate, people, culture, and history of Papua New Guinea.
- Encyclopedia Britannica~Learn more about the region of Oceania.
- National Museums Scotland~Explore resources about arts of the Oceania region of the Pacific.
Notes
1880s or slightly before, around the earliest period that sculpture left the island in any numbers - Louise Lincoln, MIA, in correspondence to Carol Robbins, December 31, 1986
Notes in correspondence between John Lunsford and Dr. Dieter Heintze (Ubersee-Musuem, Bremen, dated March 31 1982 - from the former to the latter
"One of the masks seems to be from the eighties of the last century, i.e. a fairly old piece. The inscription still says "Neu Irland": The island was re-baptized "New Mecklenburg" in 1886, therefore the masks may well have been collected in the early eighties. Furthermore, the small island of Nusa was one of the earliest trading post established in New Ireland (by a trader employed by Hernsheim & Co., in 1880)." p.2
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Klaus Clausmeyer Collection, Dusseldorf
1966: Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Koln
1967: Robert Stolper & Morton Lipkin, London
1975: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts purchased from Morton Lipkin [1]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the Collections Records object card in the Collections Records object file (1975.12).
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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