Southwest Bay, Malekula Island, Vanuatu
1930
Height: 27.5 inches (70 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in 1963 by Nicolai Michoutouchkine / American East Coast private collection
The superb Malekula temes mask presented here depicts a pair of finely rendered ancestral faces that are painted with native red ocher, black charcoal, and white lime and adorned with boar’s tusks.The mask is overmodelled upon a complex cane and palm fiber frame and the top of the mask is decorated with interwoven pandanus fibers that would have once secured a vibrant array of cockerel feathers.
Temes or temes nevimbur refers to important ritual objects, such as masks, puppets, and dance staffs, used in Malekula secret society initiation ceremonies, referred to as Nimangki, to represent powerful spirits and portray mythological stories.
INQUIRE HERE
Southwest Bay, Malekula Island, Vanuatu
1930
Height: 27.5 inches (70 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in 1963 by Nicolai Michoutouchkine / American East Coast private collection
The superb Malekula temes mask presented here depicts a pair of finely rendered ancestral faces that are painted with native red ocher, black charcoal, and white lime and adorned with boar’s tusks.The mask is overmodelled upon a complex cane and palm fiber frame and the top of the mask is decorated with interwoven pandanus fibers that would have once secured a vibrant array of cockerel feathers.
Temes or temes nevimbur refers to important ritual objects, such as masks, puppets, and dance staffs, used in Malekula secret society initiation ceremonies, referred to as Nimangki, to represent powerful spirits and portray mythological stories.
INQUIRE HERE
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