Masque, Malangan, Nord de la Nouvelle-Irlande

Loed Van Bussel, Amsterdam
Champin, Lombrail & Gautier, Enghien, 23 juin 1984, n° 37
Alain Schoffel, Paris
collects ion Monsieur et Madame Philippe Solvit, Paris
Ricqlès (de), Drouot Montaigne, Paris, 7 juin 1998, n° 43
collects ion privée, acquis lors de cette vente

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Cet imposant masque est sculpté et peint dans le style du Nord de la Nouvelle-Irlande. Si l'importance de sa taille et de son poids peuvent laisser supposer qu'il n'était pas porté au cours de longues danses, il était certainement perçu comme un masque "actif", destiné à des cérémonies rituelles spécifiques, liées aux traditions malangan ou kipang. Apparaissant au début des rituels commémoratifs, il devait chasser les tabous qui pesaient sur le village après un décès.

Ce masque, particulièrement impressionnant, se distingue par la longueur de ses oreilles, ornées de têtes de poissons à l'extrémité, du motif de "l'œil de feu" au centre, et de grandes boucles en partie inférieure. Le nez ajouré offre une composition complexe, associant un motif d'oiseau et de serpent, émergeant en surplomb de la bouche grimaçante. A la densité de la sculpture s'ajoute la richesse des éléments rapportés : frange de barbe soulignant les joues, tissu rouge et fibres végétales traduisant, au sommet, la chevelure. L'intensité et l'expressivité de ce masque sont accentuées par le caractère anguleux de la sculpture et par la symétrie du riche décor polychrome. La vision de ses différents angles est impressionnante : tandis que la vue frontale est déterminée par l'équilibre des grandes oreilles et du décor pictural, le profil dévoile la dynamique du menton rapporté et du nez ajouré, dont l'un des oiseaux, regardant vers le visage du masque, impose son allure combative.

Le Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology possède un masque très apparenté (inv.1890.179) bien que dépourvu des oreilles en planches, collects é avant 1890. Un autre, orné de motifs similaires, également composé d'un nez et d'oreilles rapportés, apparait dans les collects ions du musée du quai Branly (inv. 71.1930.29.748).

Malangan mask, northern New Ireland

This large mask is carved and painted in the style of northern New Ireland; it was probably used in malangan ceremonies to remove taboos but it may also be from the kipang tradition that is separate from malangan. 
Whilst its size means that it may have been too heavy to wear for extended periods of dancing, it was almost certainly intended to be an 'active' mask, to be worn in some kind of ceremonial performance, related either to the malangan or kipang traditions. Within the malangan tradition, such masks are worn to remove the taboos that remain in a village after a death; later on in the commemorative cycles, such masks are worn at the commencement of the rituals that climax in the unveiling of the malangan display.

The mask has very tall ear planks with representations of fish heads at the top, "eyes of fire" in the centre, and extended loops at the bottom. It also has a fretworked nose-piece which depicts two birds and an abstract depiction of a snake, above a grimacing mouth, an elongated chin attachment, and a fringe of beard at the bottom of each cheek. The mask's head covering incorporates red cloth, covered by lengths of fibres that resemble hair. The decoration is both angular and symMetricas l, giving the mask an intense, but balanced, look. Viewed from all angles, it impresses; the ear planks and facial decorations stand out from a front view, with the nose-plank and chin attachment more obvious from side views. One of the birds on nose-plank faces in to the face of the mask, looking both combative and all-seeing.

This mask has comparable pieces, with Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology having a similar example (1890.179), although without ear planks, which was donated before 1890.  The Musée du Quai Branly also has a mask with similar facial designs and additional ear and nose planks (71.1930.29.748).