Body/Death Mask Containing Human Cranium
date: label: Accession Date
content: 28 Apr 1994
label: Collection Date
content: 1970's
name: label: Collector
content: George C. McGhee
label: Donor Name
content: George C. McGhee
notes: label: Notes
content: LIFE SIZE REALISTIC MALE FIGURE, MISSING FEET. MADE OF BAMBOO COVERED WITH A PLANT FIBER WHICH WAS THEN COVERED WITH A MUD/DUNG/RESIN (?) MIXTURE AND PAINTED WITH GEOMETRIC DESIGNS IN REDDISH BROWN, WHITE, AND BLACK. IDENTICAL FACES WITH RAISED NOSES, MOUTHS, EYEBROWS, AND PERIMETER ARE PAINTED ABOVE BOTH KNEES AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STOMACH. PIG TUSKS EXTEND FROM THE CORNER OF EACH MOUTH UPWARD. SIMILAR FACES APPEAR ON EACH SHOULDER WITH BAMBOO TUBES THROUGH THEIR NOSES AND PIG TUSKS EXTENDING FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE MOUTHS, TURNING UPWARD AND ATTACHING UNDER THE EYES. 65 CM. LONG POLES EXTEND UP FROM THE TOP OF EACH SHOULDER ABOVE THE HEAD OF THE FIGURE. ATTACHED TO THESE POLES ARE CROSSED STICKS WITH TASSELS OF PLANT FIBER EXTENDING AT VARIOUS INTERVALS. BROWN, WHITE, AND BLACK FEATHERS EXTEND FROM THE POLES AT ANGLES. PALM LEAVES ARE WRAPPED AROUND THE WAIST, KNEES, AND PENIS. THE FINGERS ARE SPLAYED OUT. NOTE: THE MUD/DUNG/RESIN (?) MIXTURE SEEMS TO BE THE SAME MATERIAL USED TO MAKE THE FUNERARY "POLE PUPPETS" (CATALOG # 427300 TO 427306). (C. RHODES, CATALOGUER, 1996). Note: tag with object states: "Origin: Lawa; Made by: Kamensump; In Mbogote: Neblayman. At the end of the final funeral ceremony the children of the Ramparamb (the deceased) bring out the Neblayman or Temes Nevimbur at sunset symbolising the renewed spirit of the dead man in all the circumcised males."
label: Notes
content: A human cranium is present within the mask.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 22 May 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Vanuatu, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 390923
label: USNM Number
content: E427298-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Mask
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 202 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 82 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 24 cm