Malagan mask "tatanua" · Papua New Guinea - Bismarck Archipelago - New Ireland · ID: 3032655
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, African & Oceanic Art, November 9, 1979, lot 136
Richard Rüegg, Zurich, Switzerland
Description
light-coloured and soft wood, the mask painted with delicate ornaments in red, white, black and indigo blue, the high crested helmet composed of fiber, thread, and remains of plaster, one side with volute motif, projecting crest in shape of three dense rows of grass fibre tufts, good condition, on pedestal;
the “tatanua” mask was a representation of the “tanua” spirit or soul of a deceased individual. “Tatanua” were danced in puplic, either in pairs, or in groups or lines of men. In addition to these masks the dancers wear a garland of fern leaves and other foliage round their bodies, reaching from the waist to the knee. They perform when a clan decides to sponsor a large-scale mortuary celebration, called “malagan”. Some six weeks before this event the dancers begin sleeping and eating within the sponsors house. During this time they practice a form of abstinence in order to develop male “strength” for the performance. Not only are physical contacts with women taboo, the men may not eat peeled taro and fish. Should a dancer fail to develop this male capability through abstinence, the mask will constrict his head, causing blood to run from his temples and nostrils.
Comparing literature
Lincoln, Louise, Assemblage of Spirits, 1987, p. 65 f. Gunn, Michael, Ritual Arts of Oceania - New Ireland, Genf, Mailand 1997, p. 146 f.