Producer unknown to us
Melanesia, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, New Ireland (Niu Ailan)
About 19th century
Wood, fiber, operculum of sea snail (Turbo petholatus); carved, painted black, red and white
Donated by Fritz Metzner, Leipzig, Germany, in 1911. It is not yet known in what capacity Metzner visited New Ireland.
Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig Inv.No. Me 10187
Among the diverse mask types of Melanesia, tatanua are the best-known examples. Masked dancers perform until this day in the context of memorial festivities for the dead – the malanggan – be that during the complex preparations or during the actual ceremonies. During the tatanua dance, masked dancers are accompanied by musicians playing slit drums, and singers. Rather than symbolizing the souls of the dead in general, each tatanua mask represents a particular deceased individual.
Dancers pull their masks over their heads, to cover them completely. The face part, made from soft wood of the scholar tree (alstonia scholaris), and the helmet-like top part made of rattan, bark bast fiber, bast, wooden sticks, or chalky pigment layers, are usually complemented by a cloth hung over the back of the neck, to cover the dancer’s head completely. The dancer often covers his torso with a red t-shirt, and always wears a skirt of green leaves on his lower body.
Once a dancer has put on his mask and regalia of bast bark and leaves, he morphs into the spirit of the deceased ancestor and assumes specific roles in the ritual, such as collecting food and shell money from spectators, to pay for the expensive ceremonies.
This tatanua mask was made in the typical cap-style. While its left side is covered with modest black cords, its right side shows inflated yellow-white woolly fibers. The masks’ hairstyles apparently resemble traditional men’s hairstyles of the region. This mask is well-preserved, but lacks the neck cloth. It was donated to Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig by a Mr. Metzner in 1911.