figure (communication artefact)

Carved wooden head. Possibly a substitute for a real head. Jutting brows, hole through septum of nose, prognathous jaw and jagged teeth.

Pale blue exhibition label: 'Wooden substitute HEAD. / Asmat, New Guinea'

The word ‘substitute head’ seems to imply that it was used in place of a real skull. But on what occasion and for what purpose? What is a ‘false head’? This is a case of the donor providing as much of a problem as an explanation. Is the figure a mask (and is it hollowed out at the back?) Worth having a closer look. Wooden heads as sculptures are common in Asmat – particularly associated with the village of Per.(Konrad, Sowada and Konrad page 25)

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
23.6.64/5
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 215.9 x 101.6 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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