Mask head "temes maur" · Vanuatu · ID: 3047756
sold
EUR 1,000
Provenance
Glerum, Amsterdam, December 2010Piet Lepelaar, Leiden, The Netherlands
Size
H: 11,3 cm (head) / 44,5 cm (with beard)
H: 4.4 inch (head) / 17.5 inch (with beard)
Description
tree-fern root, vegetable clay, red ochre, boar tusks, spider web material,
These masks are embodiments of the souls of the deceased and are closely linked to funeral rituals “nalawan nemasien” or “masien”.
They bear different names (“temes maur”, “nani”, “nato”, “maux”) and their use differs in each community.
During funeral rituals, they could be worn like a mask, with a veil made of spider-web material allowing the dancer to see. Other mask heads were mounted on sticks and placed around the funerary bier, where they represented the ancestors. At ceremonies to remember the dead, they are said to have appeared as moving puppets above a screen of leaf material.
Comparing literature
Howarth, Crispin, Kastom, Art of Vanuatu, Canberra 2013, p. 101