Artwork Page for Ancestral Tablet

Details / Information for Ancestral Tablet

Ancestral Tablet

c. 1940

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Papuan Gulf, Era River region, 20th century

Medium
painted wood
Measurements
Overall: 126.7 x 20.3 cm (49 7/8 x 8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of The May Company, Cleveland 1963.555
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Ancestral tablets are among the sacred objects stored in the ceremonial houses of the Papuan Gulf. Some are owned collectively, by clans, while others are the property of individuals. The tablets are used in the consecration of ceremonial houses and canoes, or in the initiation of children.
Wood, human figure-like tablet painted red with white patterns outlined in black. The tablet has a round head, long neck widening out towards an oval body before narrowing at the legs. A singular winding, white line creates the facial features, a nose at the center painted black. The white patterns on the chest also create an abstracted face.

Ancestral Tablet

c. 1940

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Papuan Gulf, Era River region, 20th century

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