Papua New Guinea Abelam Mask - Baba Tagwa

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Fine Antiquities / Asian / Ethnographic Art

By Artemis Gallery

Aug 30, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-08-30 10:00:00 2018-08-30 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities / Asian / Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-art-3402
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• Lot Description
  Papua New Guinea, East Sepik, West Yangoru area, Abelam culture, ca. 1920s CE. A large, anthropomorphic woven mask - with round eyes surrounded by distinctive concentric ovoid forms, a curved, protruding nose between them, and a crest above that presents yet another face donning an elaborate openwork headdress. The woven fibers are painted in shades of red, orange, and creamy white. The Abelam and neighboring peoples of the Sepik region of northeast New Guinea create various types of basketry masks. This type is known as baba tagwa, a helmet-like form intended to be worn over the head. For the Abelam, baba tagwa masks have associations with the male initiation cycle. Men dressed in intricate costumes comprised of leaves wear them. For some ceremonies, figures donning baba tagwa masks act as guards. Wielding intimidating bamboo stalks or other weapons, they drive off uninitiated men, women, and children, who are not allowed to witness the secret initiation rites. Size: 34.5" H (87.6 cm); 45.375" H (115.3 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Other yam masks have traditionally been used to adorn the 'heads' of huge tubers rather than humans. Curious? Indeed, the Abelam cultivate massive yams in addition to the ordinary variety. These can be as much as 12 feet long, and special masks have traditionally been created for festivals surrounding the cherished yam, the crucial crop of the Abelam people of northeast Papua New Guinea. What's more, men take great pride in their ability to grow oversized yams. According to the curatorial department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "A man’s social status is determined largely by his success in growing long yams. Each man has a permanent exchange partner to whom he ceremonially presents his largest yams following the annual harvest, later receiving those of his rival in return. Men who are consistently able to give their partners longer yams than they receive gain great prestige. Lavishly adorned for the presentation ceremony, the finest long yams are essentially transformed into human images, decorated in the manner of men in full ceremonial regalia." (To see a yam mask of this sort at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, follow this link - http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/311328)
  
  See another Baba Tagwa mask in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/313783
  
  Provenance: private Newport Beach, California, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #136139

  Condition

  Break to stalk finial of uppermost mask headdress. Minor pigment loss and fraying to some fibers on surface. Otherwise excellent.
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