Très rare et belle statue du dieu suprême Manseren Nanggi (« Lord Sky»), île de Waigeo, archipel des îles Raja Ampat , Irian Jaya

collects ion Marcia et John Friede, New York

Exposée et reproduite dans :
Friede, New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from the Jolika collects ion, 2005, vol. 1 : 567, n° 539 et vol. 2 : 35, 179

Wear consistent with age and use within the culture: hairline cracks, a few holes to the cloth, the surface of the head-dress, arms, hands (fingers missing) and feet eroded as a result of exposure to the elements, all visible in the catalogue illustration. No restoration.
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En janvier 1930, le Koloniaal Instituut (aujourd'hui Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam) recevait du Dr. J.C. Van Eerde un ensemble sculptural exceptionnel provenant de Mayalibit Bay, à Waigeo, composé de neuf statues de divinités et d'une figure Korwar (cf. Greub, 1992 : couverture, 33, n° 18) - toujours considéré comme l'un des plus importants trésors du Tropenmuseum. Près de 80 ans plus tard, ces sculptures de divinités demeurent rarissimes : « hormis cette exception notable, il semblerait qu'il n'y ait pas de représentation sculpturale de dieux et d'esprits dans cette partie de la Nouvelle-Guinée » (Van Baaren in Greub, 1992 : 33).

Située à l'extrémité occidentale de la Nouvelle-Guinée, l'île de Waigeo a de tout temps évolué sous l'influence de la culture indonésienne, et en particulier des Moluques voisines. Le groupe d'Amsterdam, de même que la statue présentée ici (datée autour de 1900), témoignent du syncrétisme archaïque entre les cultes ancestraux indonésiens et les croyances des populations de Nouvelle-Guinée. Cette statue traduit superbement cette confluence de styles, associant la force de la sculpture - notamment dans l'importance accordée à la tête - et la délicatesse des traits aux courbes subtiles, mise en valeur par la blancheur du visage. La gestuelle - les bras (rapportés) majestueusement déployés dans l'espace - emprunte également à la grâce de la statuaire indonésienne. Enfin les textiles venant de l'Indonésie orientale rappellent ici l'importance de ces échanges, dans un contexte à la fois cérémoniel et de prestige.

Manseren Nanggi - le dieu suprême ordonnant le destin du monde et des humains– est représenté dans la gestuelle du prêtre accomplissant le rituel Fan Nanggi (nourrir le ciel), appelant dans la transe la protection des divinités (Friede, 2005, II : 179).

A very fine and rare figure of the supreme god Manseren Nanggi (Lord Sky), Waigeo Island, Raja Ampat, Irian Jaya

In January 1930, Dr J.C. Van Eerde sent the Koloniaal Instituut (now the Tropenmuseum) in Amsterdam an exceptional group of sculptures from Mayalibit Bay in Waigeo. The group comprised nine figures of gods and spirits and a Korwar figure (cf. Greub, 1992: cover & 33, ill. 18), an object which has long been considered one of the museum's most important treasures. Almost eighty years later, these figures of gods and spirits remain exceedingly rare in collects ions. With the exception of the Amsterdam group 'it seems that gods and spirits in this part of New Guinea were hardly ever represented in sculptural shapes' (Van Baaren in Greub, 1992: 33).

The island of Waigeo, located at the western tip of New Guinea, has evolved since t.mes immemorial under the influence of Indonesian culture, particularly that of the Moluques people. As with the group of objects in Amsterdam, the offered figure (which probably dates to around 1900) testifies to an archaic syncretism between Indonesian ancestor worship and New Guinean beliefs. This figure is a perfect translation of this confluence of styles, which combines sculptural power, particularly evident in the importance attached to the head, with the delicacy of the feature's subtle curves, enhanced by the whiteness of the face. The figure's pose, with the arms stretched majestically outwards into space, also borrows from the grace of Indonesian statuary. Finally, the textiles from eastern Indonesia point to the importance which cultural exchanges played in both a ceremonial and a prestige context.

Manseren Nanggi, the supreme god who orders the destiny of man and the world, is represented here in the pose of a priest during the Fan Nanggi ritual ('feeding the sky'), appealing in a trance for protection from the gods (Friede, 2005, II: 179).