Producer unknown to us
Melanesia, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, New Ireland (Niu Ailan)
Late 19th century
Wood (Alstonia villosa) carved, sea snail (Turbo petholatus), pigments
Purchased in 1904 by Ludolf Kummer, planter and trader in New Ireland.
Inv. No. 68615
Malanggan friezes are horizontal, elongated wood carvings that depict multiple interacting images of people and animals. Some hang on the wall of the local display building, others stand on the floor or are integrated into the architecture of the building.
The central figure of this malanggan frieze, which lined a mask or display house as a decorative element, depicts a human male figure whose legs and hands clasp a writhing snake. At the same time, the man is adorned with the attributes of a bird, a beak and a feathered tail. The figure is flanked by two almost symmetrical wings representing fish whose heads meet in the middle behind the bird. Friezes in this bird form are called kala.
The museum’s original label describes this malanggan carving as a “large fish mask in memory of the child of King Bekohl of Mwaweso who was eaten by a fish.” Furthermore, an inscription on the exhibition wall reads “Large Fish Mask 'Bethbeleie'. The little child 'meaweso' of King Bekohl of Luagun was eaten by him.” This information from the collector Ludolf Kummer refers to his relationship with the head of the family from Luagun, a town about 16 km from Fissoa, the collector’s plantation, on the northeastern coast of New Ireland. He probably received the carving from the hands of the deceased child’s family after the ceremony. Unfortunately, there is no exact record of these events.
Malanggan art is sculptural and its production is described as tetok or “the cutting and joining of skins.” The sculptures are conceived as shells that replace the decomposed body of a deceased person, providing a container for their life force (noma). Captured in artistic carving, this life force is returned to the living in the form of strength.
The mask was purchased in early 1902, along with 13 other objects, from the planter and dealer Ludolf Kummer, a relative of the museum's founder, Bernhard Kinne. Ludolf Kummer worked intermittently in Neumecklenburg, now New Ireland, from 1898 to 1913. His interest in the life and imagination of the people of New Ireland was reflected not only in his collection of ethnographic material, but also in the publication of ethnographic descriptions.