Mysterious mask with spider web fabric hanging ·  Vanuatu - Malakula Island · ID: 3051830

Description

vegetable fibre paste, base

Expressive mask in bold colours of bright red and indigo blue. The face is framed by wild boar tusks and decorated with thin, pointed wooden sticks arranged in a radial pattern on either side of the face.

In a gouache painting from the second half of the 19th century, a formally comparable mask with webbing and distinctive wooden sticks is called “temar ne are” (Galerie Meyer, ‘Vanuatu Art’, Paris 1997, p. 11, ill. 5.).

Masks of a similar size to the present example, crowned rod puppets “temes nevimbür”. According to Guiart, these were used in rituals to appease the deceased so that they would leave the living in peace. According to other sources, they were used by members of the secret society “nevimbur” in ceremonies held to achieve a higher status or to accept a higher title. Dozens of pigs with circular tusks had to be sacrificed on a single occasion in order to reach the next level or rank within the society.

The heads of the “temes nevimbür” are removed from their supports and kept in the “nakamal”, or Mens-House. Guiart reports that the heads are often attached to the shoulders, knees and elbows of the owner’s “rambaramp”, or funerary effigy. (Galerie Meyer, “Vanuatu Art”, Paris 1997, p. 10).

The object Mysterious mask with spider web fabric hanging with the object ID 3051830 was last part of the auction Auction 104 at April 12, 2025 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 185 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,500.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on Oceanian art.

Comparing literature

Kaufmann, Christian, Vanuatu - Kunst aus der Südsee, Basel 1997, p. 58, ill. 65