Head of a Marada malanggan figure, New Ireland. (NGO)

This refined wooden head is naturalistically carved in the round and life size. It has a possum standing on its head (almost certainly a clan symbol) and a wooden feather on either side, representing a warrior headdress. Like all Marada faces, it is painted black. Dimensions: 19 x 8 x 8 inches/ 48 x 20 x 20 cm. The Marada cult originated on Tabar Island, but is also found in a few other localities including Tabar Island. This old and realistically carved head with a possum head dress was carved for a seated Marada figure used in malanggan ceremonies. The Marada are human-sized figures which are always painted black. They are displayed sitting, usually with the arms and hands raised in the traditional burial position. The heads are carved in wood, while the bodies are made of banana trunks and branches wound with vines. Two or three of these figures are made for each ceremony and they are displayed outside the formal malanggan tableau. The Marada figures do not represent individual deceased persons or specific clan ancestors, and the heads are therefore not destroyed after the ceremony. Instead, according to Bodrogi, they are “carefully removed, wrapped and stored in the means’ house to be loaned to people who lack the means to have new figures carved” (Tibor Bedrogi, “New Ireland Art in Cultural Context” in “Assemblage of Sprits – Idea and Image in New Ireland” by Louise Lincoln, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1987). Condition: This Marada appears to be of considerable age and to have been used extensively. The possum headdress was originally covered in possum fur, almost all of which has been lost. The hair of the human head has also suffered some loss. (It was made of vegetable tufts, painted over with white lime. Some tufts are missing and only a few crumbs of lime remain). There are a few small surface cracks, the largest of which is at the back of the head, and signs of minor native repair and repainting on the cheek. Provenance: This Marada head was purchased from a Sydney art gallery in the late 1960s and has been held in a private Sydney collection for around 40 years. It has obvious signs of age and use before collection and was presumably carved circa 1960. This artwork was originally purchased together with a tatanua mask which was danced at a major “Warwagira”, or Tolai cultural festival, held in Rabaul in the late 1960s, and both artworks were possibly purchased after this event.

This item has been sold.