Tatanua mask, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Acquired in situ by Semper in 1889

Museum Für Volkerkunde, Dresden (inv. no. 7175)

Morris J. Pinto (1925-2009) Collection, Geneva, Paris, and New York

Sotheby's Parke Bernet, New York, Fine African and Oceanic Art, November 14, 1980, lot 50

Patricia Withofs, London

Daniel Hourdé Collection, Paris, acquired from the above circa 1985

Adolf Bernard Meyer, Masken von Neu Guinea und dem Bismarck archipel / Herausgegeben mit unterstutzung der Generaldirection der Koniglichen sammlungen fur Kunst und Wissenschaft zu Dresden von Dr. A.B. Meyer ... Mit 15 Tafeln in Lichtdruck, Dresden, Stengel & Markert, 1889, pl. XXII, n° 2

By Jean-Philippe Beaulieu

The Tatanua are the most iconic masks of New Ireland. These helmet masks are instantly recognisable as they boast exuberantly carved faces and crested coiffures reminiscent of a mohawk. They are danced in groups, in a complex choreography, with light steps and music evoking birdsong. In the past, they embodied the Tanua spirit of the deceased - their soul - and were the ones to bring the Malagan funeral rites of New Ireland to a close. Unlike Malagan statues, which were used only once, Tatanua masks could be a part of multiple ceremonies over the years, punctuating clan life. Hundreds of Tatanua masks are known in museums and private collections, with the vast majority collected between 1902 and 1914.

The Daniel Hourdé Tatanua mask is among the earliest known examples and is made up entirely of indigenous materials, with no fabric or fibre originating from colonial trade. The face displays wide upturned nostrils atop a prominent, projecting jaw, and ears with distended lobes. The painting on the face shows great sophistication. This mask possesses all the attributes of the masterpieces of the corpus, radiating a primal power.

This mask was published in 1889 by Adolf Bernhard Meyer in his monograph dedicated to the masks of the Bismarck Archipelago. It is shown as an illustration on plate 12, with a mouth ornament added for the purposes of the photograph. The author comments”Wooden mask, vegetable fibres, pith and fibres. Eyes made of Turbo opercula. White, red, black, yellow. The side of the helmet - not shown in the illustration - is covered with pieces of pith arranged in a mosaic, beneath which are horizontal bands of black, white, yellow and red. The wearer sees through the eye holes. Mr Semper brought the mask back from Palau or the Philippines; he had received it from a captain who claimed it came from the New Hebrides, which is however erroneous.” Meyer correctly attributes it to New Ireland, noting its proximity to an exemplar published by Schmeltz in the Goddefroy Museum catalogue in 1881 (plate XXII, page 120), and considers it to be an early mask. Its exact date of entry into the Dresden collections is unclear, but a review of the records suggests an inventory in 1887, implying that collection must have taken place a few years earlier. The photographs also reveal that the condition of the mask today is very similar to what it was in 1889.