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NEW BRITAIN MASK, PROBABLY KILENGE OR CAPE GLOUCESTER image 1
NEW BRITAIN MASK, PROBABLY KILENGE OR CAPE GLOUCESTER image 2
Lot 169

NEW BRITAIN MASK, PROBABLY KILENGE OR CAPE GLOUCESTER

Arts of Africa, the Pacific & the Americas
17 December 2024, 16:00 CET
Brussels, Chaussée de Charleroi

Sold for €12,160 inc. premium

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NEW BRITAIN MASK, PROBABLY KILENGE OR CAPE GLOUCESTER

nausung
wood, pigments
Height 56 cm

Provenance
Kirby Kallas Lewis, Seattle
Anthony Patano, Chicago
Michael Hamson, Palos Verdes

Literature
Hamson, M. (Ed.), Between the Known and Unknown: New Guinea Art from Astrolabe Bay to Morobe, Palos Verdes, 2016, pp.136-137, no.53

Footnotes

The nausung masks of the Kilenge of West New Britain closely resemble those of their neighbours along the Huon Gulf coast and nearby islands. These are generally half-helmet masks, often featuring common elements such as black triangles around the eyes, distended earlobes, an elongated nose, a mouth framed by teeth with a protruding tongue, and a carved small cap adorned with black and red lines that was once decorated with cassowary feathers.

In his article The Culture of the Huon Peninsula Coast and Neighboring Islands (Hamson, M. (Ed.), op. cit., pp.36-39), Klaus Maaz describes how the intertribal trade network, stretching from West New Britain to Astrolabe Bay, fostered cultural and artistic similarities across these regions. The author explains that the small, densely populated Tami Islands were instrumental in this exchange, trading their objects for food from coastal tribes. The distinct cultural productions of the Tami Islanders became so influential that the term "Tami style" came into use to describe the artistic traditions of the overall area. This cultural exchange also led to shared religious practices and beliefs.

Nausung masks were performed during the initiation ceremonies for young boys, specifically for the circumcision of the firstborn son. Women and uninitiated children were not permitted to see them (Dark, P., "Kilenge Art in Dance and Ceremony", in Form Colour Inspiration. Oceanic Art from New Britain, Stuttgart, 2001, pp.176-179).

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