Squatting anthropomorphic figure ·  Caroline Islands, Tobi Islands or Satawan · ID: 3034460

Description

wood, middle brown patina, eyes with mother-of-pearl inlay, pupil of brown mass, slightly dam. (nose, mouth), rep. (right foot tip);
the scant historical evidence that has been recorded hints that the Micronesian squatting figure may once have been associated with spirit canoes and the practice of ancestor worship. The inhabitants of Tobi believed that the realm of the dead was a great canoe to which their souls transferred upon death. Squatting figures are known to have been used as an element of Tobian conoe burials in the past, perhaps to ensure successful passage to the underworld.

Littérature comparée

B. Wavell, The squatting figure as a motif in Micronesian art, In: Tribal Arts Summer/Autumn 2002, p. 66