Figure "malagan" with snake ·  Papua New Guinea - Bismarck Archipelago - New Ireland - Tabar Islands · ID: 3053601

Description

wood, pigments, lime, shells, base

The powerful, block-like treatment of the body combined with a finely worked, expressively rendered face is characteristic of the Tabar Islands group, one of the principal centres of origin of “malagan” art. Such figures were created for elaborate mortuary feasts, shown publicly only once, and served not only the ritual release of the deceased’s soul but also the initiation of young men and the settlement of social obligations.

The snake carved before the mouth and face is no free ornamental addition, but a traditional motif bound to specific lineages or clans, its use governed by a complex system of ownership rights. Its presence signals the affiliation and ritual legitimacy of the commissioning party, and is further understood as the embodiment of ancestral power guiding the deceased’s passage into the world of the ancestors.