Uli

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Uli

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Common to all known uli figures is the depiction of male and female sexual characteristics as well as the striking head with lifelike eyes made from the operculum of a turbo snail. With regard to their significance, much remains uncertain to this day: the figures were the focus of large ceremonies and, unlike the works of art made for Malanggan ceremonies, were carefully preserved and reused many times. They probably served to honour important deceased persons, to whom, in addition to the qualities of strength and power considered to be male, the nourishing and sustaining abilities considered to be female were also ascribed. Uli figures were not made for single individuals, but received new painting and eyes before the ceremonies, which were often far apart in time, before they returned to the men's houses. A special feature of this uli figure is another figure held in front of the chest. The design of this small figure corresponds in essential aspects to the main character; its meaning is unclear. Text: Ulrich Menter

Data Provider
Linden-Museum Stuttgart Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Uli
Dimensions
Height: 145 cm
Width: 39 cm
Depth: 44 cm
Material/Technique
Wood, Coconut fibre, Pigments , Lime, turbo petholatus, Putty carved, painted
Current location
Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number
049272

Provenance and sources

  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Thiel; 0791
  • Production
    when
    19th century or earlier
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    New Ireland Province
Provenance
The Linden Museum received this uli figure in 1907 as a gift from the merchant Maximilian Thiel (1865-1939), who came to the later colony of German New Guinea as early as 1885. Thiel was co-owner and manager of the branch of the trading company Hernsheim & Co. in Matupi, New Britain, before taking over the management of the trading company in 1892 as the nephew of the company founder Eduard Hernsheim. Thiel commissioned employees to acquire ethnographica primarily within the Bismarck Archipelago, which were sold on to museums in Germany, among others. How this figure came into the possession of Maximilian Thiel has not yet been clarified. Text: Ulrich Menter

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED
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