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Tapuanu

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The atolls of the Mortlock Islands are the only place in Micronesia where masks were made. They depict the benevolent spirit Tapuanu, who protects the precious breadfruit crop from typhoons. During the year they were kept safely in the men's house to be brought out once a year and incorporated into a ritual dance.
The rigid, reduced form of the face mask is underlined by the monochrome painting in black and white. In the case of the Freiburg specimen, the white limestone chalk coating has flaked off to a large extent, also missing is the round extension to the side as a normal appurtenance of such masks, which represents the topknot of the Micronesian male hairstyle.
The object was collected by Lieutenant Captain Paul Werber from Freiburg, 1st Officer in the Imperial Navy who sailed the South Seas for a total of two years on the S.M.S. Cormoran and donated about 100 objects from various regions of Oceania to the museum.

Data Provider
Museen Freiburg Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Maske
Dimensions
Width: 330.0 mm
Height: 630.0 mm
Material/Technique
Wood
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
II/1335

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    1900 - 1910
  • Change of legal title:
    Donation
    when
    29.11.1911
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    Truk Islands (location/origin)
    Caroline (location/origin)
    Micronesia (location/origin)
    Oceania (location/origin)
    who
    Werber, Paul - Collectors
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Oceania

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC0 1.0 DEED

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