Walmatki Village, New Britain, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Accession Date:
13 Jan 2010
Collection Date:
1972
Notes:
Headdress made from barkcloth wrapped around and stitched onto a bamboo frame. The head is shaped like a bird head, with large round eyes and pointed beak. A long tube, gradually tapering to a point, extends up and back from the head. Natural light beige colored barkcloth, with floral patterns painted in red and black paint along the shaft. Eyes painted with concentric circles. There is also a second oval-shaped piece, also made from barkcloth stitched onto a bamboo frame, with a bamboo pole through the middle. It is painted with red and black floral patterns. The bamboo pole attaches to the narrow (top) end of the shaft on the main headdress. A photo of assembled headdress is in the accession file. Donor writes, on tag on the object: "Day dance mask, Walmetki Village, collected 1972. ca. 94" with attachment." Exhibited, and listed in exhibit catalog: Gathercole, Peter, Adrienne Kaeppler, and Douglas Newton. "The Art of the Pacific Islands." National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979. p. 240 (no. 16.10) The authors state that the head is that of a hornbill.