Producer unknown to us
Melanesia, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, New Ireland (Niu Ailan)
About 1870
Wood, fibers, rattan, operculum of the sea snail (Turbo petholatus); carved, painted black, red and white
Acquired by Dr. Friedrich Bernhard Eduard Struck (1888–1971) in 1970. Further information on the circumstances of collection is not yet available.
Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig Inv. no. Me 16594
Another tatanua mask from the collection of the Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde is a hybrid of the two masks mentioned earlier: On the left side, the helmet is designed by wooden pins impaled in putty-like lime mass; on the right side of the helmet, twisted cords dyed black can be found in the upper area. Malanggans are repeatedly created by their makers from memory, where different stylistic impressions of past ceremonies are combined. This mask is also incomplete, as its neck apron was lost.
During the malanggan ceremony, the masked men perform a dance in front of the festival hall, which generally pantomimes the rapprochement of the two sexes. This dance, or more correctly the pantomime performance, is accompanied by the singing of those present, the beating of the wooden drum or the tapping of dry pieces of bamboo cane with thin wooden sticks.
While the carvings were usually destroyed at the end of the commemorative festivals, thrown into the bush to rot, or were burned, or sold, the masks and musical instruments used in malanggan ceremonies were saved for future use.
This mask was sold to the Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig by Bernhard Eduard Struck from Jena, shortly before his death in 1971. How it came into his possession and where it was collected is currently being researched in another provenance research project.