ETHOC 041736

figure de masque de deuil apouéma

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041736
Face from an apouéma mourning mask
New Caledonia
Kanak. Late 19th - early 20th century
Wood. H 46 cm
Gift of the painter Émile Chambon in 1981; purchased from Pierre Vérité in Paris; former Pierre Loeb collection
MEG Inv. ETHOC 041736
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These masks were used during the final ritual in mourning for the chief. They represent the underwater world of the dead and express the power of the ancestors of the chiefly lineage.

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Registres d'inventaires historiques

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Inventaire original MEG. Registres tapuscrits, volumes 19 à 59
Registres_tapuscrits/41736.pdf

 

The Kanak, the first inhabitants of New Caledonia

One morning in September 1774, the explorer James Cook sighted islands on the horizon which he called New Caledonia, because the landscape reminded him of Caledonia, the old name for Scotland, his country of origin.

And yet the island had been inhabited by the Kanak for over 3,000 years. Despite variations in their social systems and art styles, they all share a close relationship to the land and ancestors.

Bibliograpy

  • Kasarhérou, Emmanuel. 1993. Le masque kanak. Marseille: Editions Parenthèses / A.D.C.K.

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