Artwork Page for Grade Society Figure

Details / Information for Grade Society Figure

Grade Society Figure

c. 1930

Melanesia, Ambrym, Vanuatu (New Hebrides), 20th century

Medium
fernwood
Measurements
Overall: 210.9 cm (83 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Baker 1971.272
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

In the islands of Vanuatu, communities carved large statutes to honor ancestors. The figures were often erected near men's-society houses, in conjunction with celebrations marking an individual's attainment of a new rank or grade. Carved from the trunks of fernwood trees, the ancestor statues were originally covered with mud plaster and painted with many colors. The large heads typical of these sculptures symbolize the ancestors' spiritual power, or "mana".
Grade society figure, a human-like figure with their head almost as big as their body and carved from a fernwood tree, the figure almost black with a sandpaper-like texture. The figure squats over the trunk, knees turned in, and hands folded just below their stomach, the remainder of the trunk sticking out the top of their head. Their head is oval with shadowed recesses where their eyes and mouth would be.

Grade Society Figure

c. 1930

Melanesia, Ambrym, Vanuatu (New Hebrides), 20th century

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.