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Figure

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The carved figure has a round head, a flat face and a long body. It is wearing an apron made of palm leaves and its face is characterised by a beaming smile. The grinning mouth is a typical feature of Tolai figurative depictions. Laughing faces embody the tabaran, ancestral spirits well-disposed towards man. This type of figure was probably used in ritual dances of the iniet male secret society.

Data Provider
Museen Freiburg Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
figures (representations)
Dimensions
Height: 730.0 mm
Width: 120.0 mm
Depth: 100.0 mm
Material/Technique
Leaf, Colourant, Wood, Carving
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
II/0846
Related object(s)

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    around 1890
  • Change of legal title:
    Purchase
    when
    16.07.1896
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    New Britain (formerly New Pomerania) (location/origin)
    Kuanua (location/origin)
    Papua New Guinea (location/origin)
    Bismarck Archipelago (location/origin)
    Melanesia (location/origin)
    Gazelle peninsula (location/origin)
    who
    Strasser, Otto - Collectors
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Oceania

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC0 1.0 DEED

Related objects

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