Figure of a Supernatural Being, Nendö (Santa Cruz), Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands

The figurative sculpture of Nendö, or Santa Cruz Island, in the eastern Solomon Islands, is comprised of a small corpus of fifty or so sculptures that “resemble the human body, and [which] can be categorized as sacred icons that depict deities [dukna] or other supernatural beings in the religious and mythic domains of Nendö culture.” (William H. Davenport, Santa Cruz Island Figure Sculpture and Its Social and Ritual Contexts, Philadelphia, 2005, p. 1).

The present figure was formerly in the collection of the anthropologist William H. Davenport, who over the course of several decades spent considerable time on Nendö. He was given this figure in 1959 by Deacon Clement Daagi of the Anglican Melanesian Mission, who informed him that it represents a leimuba, a benevolent type of supernatural being which lives in seclusion deep in the rainforest. Davenport records that “Humans could never find [leimuba] even if they tried." The leimuba are “shrouded in mystery. They cannot be summoned by prayer, but individual leimuba might suddenly appear to a human and bestow a good luck token of some kind or possibly a roll of valuable red-feather money, then, just as suddenly, disappear.” (ibid., p. 14).

The leimuba’s benevolent character is reflected in the delightful style of this charming object, which is itself the type of token or charm that a leimuba might deliver to a deserving mortal. The diminutive, round-headed supernatural is richly attired, with a finely woven loincloth, beaded anklets, and other ornaments, including a small shell which represents a conch, “a symbol of renown, because wealthy and important men (and supernaturals are these even more than mortals) are associated with the blowing of a conch which always announces the purchase of valuable commodities.” (William H. Davenport, “Lyric Verse and Ritual in the Santa Cruz Islands”, Expedition, Vol. 18, No. 1, p. 46). All leimuba are thought to be male, “and no one is certain whether there are females or whether they reproduce and whether they are immortal like dugna” (William H. Davenport, Santa Cruz Island Figure Sculpture […], Philadelphia, 2005, p. 15). Davenport states, "Santa Cruz men deny that male carvers ever made images of the leimuba; all tokens received from leimuba are believed to have been fabricated by them.” (ibid., p. 212).

The surface of this sculpture was once covered in turmeric, which the people of Nendö believed contained supernatural properties, and which was ritually applied to “sacred objects in order to sacralize them.” (ibid., p. 11). Although figures of tutelary deities, or munga dukna, were venerated on altars, a figure of a supernatural leimuba such as this would have been kept hidden in a secret place “until the owner wished to use it or speak to it, hoping to attract the attention of a leimuba who might make him a present of feather currency.” (ibid., p. 212).