Crochet porte-crânes, Groupe Kerewa, Golfe de Papouasie, Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée

Loed van Bussel, Amsterdam
Collection Marcia et John Friede, New York

Au dos est inscrit, à l'encre blanche, la mention : V.BUSSEL 2B042

Exposition:
Rijksmuseum Köller-Müller, Otterlo, Sculpture from Africa and Oceania, 17 novembre 1990 - 20 janvier 1991

Publication:
Kooten et Heuvel,  Sculpture from Africa and Oceania, 1990 : 329, n° 122

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Conçu en deux dimensions, selon la statuaire propre à l'art du Golfe de Papouasie, le personnage s'adapte aux contraintes de sa fonction : les bras filiformes parallèles aux « jambes » retournées servant de crochet de suspension. La dynamique des lignes – parfaitement symétriques selon l'esthétique Kerewa - concentre l'attention sur le visage aux yeux ronds cernés par un motif en larme, les traits champlevés rehaussés de pigments blancs et ocre rouge, personnalisant l'être-esprit rencontré par le sculpteur dans ses rêves (Bell in Peltier et Morin, 2006 : 423). Selon Smidt (in Kooten et Heuvel, 1990 : 330), ce crochet porte-crânes agiba se distingue en particulier par les lobes s'épanouissant dans la partie inférieure, repris en miniature sous le cou. Ces motifs l'apparentent très étroitement à l'agiba du National Museum and Art Gallery de Port Moresby (Smidt, 1975 : fig. 7) - les deux provenant vraisemblablement, selon Smidt, du même village.

Placée dans la maison cérémonielle des hommes (dubu daima), l'effigie agiba servait à accrocher des crânes humains – trophées de guerre – suspendus par un lien de roseau. Les crânes étaient aussi parfois déposés devant les agiba, allant par paire – faisant ainsi office de reliquaires. cf. Peltier et Morin (2006 : 208) pour la photographie prise par Paul Wirz en 1930 dans l'aire culturelle Kerewa, d'une paire de reliquaires - masculin et féminin. Selon Smidt (idem : 332), ici le renflement du ventre pourrait indiquer une représentation féminine.
cf. Rubin ("Primitivism " in 20th century Art, 1983 : 103), pour un exemplaire très comparable dans les collections du Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Skull rack, Kerewa Group, Papuan Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Designed in two dimensions, in keeping with the style of statuary art from the Papuan Gulf, the character fits the constraints of his office: threadlike arms parallel the 're-turned' legs, which served as suspension hooks. The dynamism of the lines is perfectly symmetrical, according to the Kerewa sculptural tradition. It concentrates the attention of the viewer on the face with its round eyes encircled by a teardrop pattern, the champlevés features enhanced with red ochre and white pigments, giving body to the spirit-being encountered by the sculptor in his dreams (Bell in Peltier and Morin, 2006: 423).

According to Smidt (in Kooten and Heuvel, 1990: 330), this agiba skull rack is particularly distinguishable by their curved lobe motifs which can be seen both at the neck and towards the base of the figure. These motifs are closely related to those on the agiba in the National Museum and Art Gallery in Port Moresby (Smidt, 1975: fig. 7), and both skull racks probably come from the same village (idem).

Placed in the ceremonial house of the men (dubu daima) the agiba effigy was used to hang human skulls – heads of the ancestors or war trophies - which would have been suspended by a bond of reed. The skulls were sometimes laid before the agiba in pairs- thus acting as reliquaries. cf. Peltier and Morin (2006: 208) for the photograph taken by Paul Wirz in 1930 of a pair of male and female reliquaries from the Kerewa area. According to Smidt (ibid.: 332), the swelling of the stomach seen here could  mean that this agiba represents a female.
Cf. Rubin ("Primitivism" in 20th Century Art, 1983: 103), for a closely comparable example in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.