Très rare masque de flûte, Groupe Biwat, cours moyen de la rivière Yuat, Bas Sepik, Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée

Walter Randel, New York, 1979
Collection Marcia et John Friede, New York

Exposé au:
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, 15 octobre 2005 - 14 février 2010

Daté au C14 entre 1660 et 1890 (94,4%)

Reproduit dans:
Friede, New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection, 2005, vol. 1 : 168, n° 139, vol. 2 : 104

Very good condition overall. Wear consistent with age and use within the culture: losses to the edge of the mask and hairline cracks, as visible in the catalogue illustration. A few tiny holes to the inside of the mask (c14 test samples); old silver typed label marked 'Walter Randel'; inventory number '16.91' in black ink on white ground twice; '526' in red ink.
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Selon le style des anciennes statues servant de bouchons aux flûtes sacrées des Biwat, le long visage exprime, dans la force des traits et l'exubérance de la coiffe en plumes de casoar, toute la puissance de la représentation. La démesure du front amplifie l'impact visuel de l'étroite face aux traits serrés, se dessinant dans la stridence des lignes anguleuses. Le relief aigu des arcades sourcilières, narines relevées et pommettes saillantes encadrant les yeux percés disposés à l'oblique, répond au mouvement des commissures prolongeant la bouche aux lèvres charnues.  A la force de l'image s'ajoute la profonde patine du bois dur, accentuant la prégnance du visage.

« Il n'existe aucun autre exemple publié de masques de flûte Biwat dans le style à visage allongé des anciennes figures de flûtes » (in Friede, 2005 II : 104, n° 139). Si les sculptures wusear obturant chez les Biwat l'extrémité des grandes flûtes sacrées de bambou haiyang forment un corpus bien connu et référencé, ce masque stylistiquement et cultuellement apparenté demeure exceptionnel. L'absence de références dès premiers ouvrages consacrés à la région (notamment Mead, 1934) pose aujourd'hui la question de son utilisation : en addition des statues placées au sommet de la flûte, ou en tant qu'élément central de leur iconographie.  

Dans l'aire Gorogopa, chez les groupes Biwat occidentaux et Keram, existe un second type de flûtes sacrées, caractérisé par une tête ou un masque fixé le long du bambou d'une flûte différente, à un trou additionnel. Ces masques surmodelés et parés de dents de cochon, de coquillages et de plumes de casoar, identifiaient la flûte yakat évoquant l'esprit tutélaire du cochon sauvage, jouée lors des cérémonies d'initiation (Mead, citée par Kaufmann in Peltier et Morin, 2006 : 414).

Qu'il ait constitué ou non l'élément iconographie central d'une grande flûte sacrée à laquelle il était affixé (à l'instar des yakat), ce masque rarissime atteste, par son âge (profonde patine d'usage du bois dur et C14 le datant entre 1660 et 1890), par sa sculpture à l'outil de pierre et par son style, de la coexistence à une époque très ancienne des deux formes – masques et statues wusear. Comme ces dernières, il est vraisemblable que ce masque représente le fils de la mère-crocodile primordiale (Asin), ancêtre-mère du village, esprit tutélaire des fêtes de l'igname ainsi que de l'initiation des jeunes, qui faisait renaître symboliquement les initiés en les avalant puis en les régurgitant sous forme d'adultes achevés (Kaufmann, idem, et Meyer, 1995 : 211).

Very rare flute mask, Biwat group, Middle Yuat River, Lower Sepik, Papua New Guinea

According to the style of the ancient statues used as stoppers for the sacred flutes of the Biwat, the long face expresses, in the strength of the features and the exuberance of the headdress of cassowary feathers, all the power of the representation. The outrageousness of the forehead enhances the visual impact of the tightly fitting lines, drawn in by the stridency of the angular carving. The acute relief of the raised eyebrows, high cheekbone, and the pointed nostrils frame the obliquely placed pierced eyes, which responds to the movement of the corners of the mouth, extending the mouth into the fleshly lips. The strength of the image is augmented by the deep patina of hardwood, accentuating the projection of the face.

"There is no other published example of a Biwat Flute mask, with an elongated face in the style of the ancient figures of the flutes" (in Friede, 2005 II: 104, No. 139). If the ends of the large sacred bamboo haiyang pipes of the wuseur sculptures are seen as similar to those of the Biwat, then the flutes together form a corpus which is well known and referenced. Although this mask is, therefore, both stylistically and culturally related, it still remains outstanding. Its deep patina of use, and the absences of  references to it in early literature on the region (including Mead, 1934), on the other hand, raise the question of its application; was it an addition to the statues placed at the top of the flute, or  a central element of their iconography.

In the Gorogopa area, among the western Biwat people and the Keram, a second type of sacred flute is needed, this type characterized by a fixed  head or mask attached along the bamboo of  the flute, through an additional hole. These masks are dressed and overmodelled with pig's teeth, shells, and cassowary feathers, which identify the flute at yakat. It would have been played during initiation ceremonies and evoked the tutelary spirit of the wild pig. (Mead, quoted by Kaufmann in Peltier and Morin, 2006: 414).

Whether or not it constitutes the central iconographic element of a large sacred flute, this work was certainly affixed (like those of the yakat). This rare mask attests, by its age (demonstrated by a deep patina and C14 dated to between 1660 and 1890), by the fact that it was sculpted using stone tools, and by its style, to the coexistence in very ancient times of two forms of wusear masks and statues. It is likely that this mask also represents the sons of the primordial mother crocodile (Asin), mother-ancestor of the village, tutelary spirit of the l'igame festivals, and central to initiation ceremonies, where she symbolically swallows and then regurgitates initiates, once they have achieved adulthood (Kaufmann, ibid, and Meyer, 1995: 211).