| Tatanua masks from New Ireland |
| I do not have a Tauanua mask in my collection, I just love them and hope to have one some day. I put this page together with some of my favorite examples of these masks and wanted to share it with others who might also be interested in them. The images (a LOT of them) and information below are for reference purposes. ______________________________________________________________ This type of mask was made in north and central New Ireland. It is known as tatanua, after the dance in which it is used. Though the masks are superficially similar in appearance, there are many variations reflecting the wide range of associations and meanings which they have. The upper part consists of a cane framework held together with string and covered with barkcloth, or in later examples, European textiles. It is decorated to represent the hairstyle worn by young men as a mark of bereavement, in which the hair was partially shaved and coated with lime. Tatanua masks are decorated differently on each side of the crest, using feathers, wool, shells, short wooden sticks or seeds. One side is often coated with lime. The crest is of yellow or reddish brown fibre. The face, normally carved from lime wood (Alstonia), is decorated with black, white and reddish brown pigment in an asymmetric design. Sometimes, as in this example, blue pigment is included - a European product (Reckitt's Blue) used to enhance the whiteness of washing. The eyes are set with painted snail shell (Turbo petholatus) opercula, the ear lobes are elongated and pierced, and the straight mouth is usually open, showing teeth. The tatanua mask is worn by men in ceremonies to honour the dead. In 1907 Richard Parkinson published a description of a ceremony that he witnessed on a visit to New Ireland. The masked dancers performed, accompanied by drumming, wearing garlands of leaves and a leaf garment covering the lower body. Brenda Clay describes her observations of a performance by tatanua dancers in 1979. Men prepared the masks and the performance away from women. The masks are preserved between performances, to be rented out by one of the few remaining skilled carvers. Source: The British Museum |
| Height: 41 cm Collected by Hugh Hastings Romilly Gift of the Duke of Bedford Ethno 1884,7-28.25 J. Mack (ed.), Masks: the art of expression (London, The British Museum Press, 1994), pp. 56-57, 75-76, fig. 30 B. Clay, 'A line of Tatanua' in L. Lincoln (ed.), Assemblage of spirits: idea and image in New Ireland (New York and Minneapolis, George Braziller and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1987), pp. 63-73 The British Museum |
| Tatanua mask wood, shells, vegetable fiber, and lime 17 x 7 1/2 x 12 1/2 (43.2 x 19.1 x 31.8 cm) Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco |
| Tatanua Mask, New Ireland H: 41 cm – 16” Provenance : Brooklyn Museum, New York Carlebach Gallery, New York, 1940’s Published : Hurst Gallery, Arts and Artefacts of Melanesia, 1992, Cover illustration http://www.bruneaf.com/catalogue/brunxiv/conru.htm |
| Tatanua mask, Malanggan culture, New Ireland, Melanesia, 20th century. Carved and painted wood, dyed fiber, yarn, tin disks, and glass. Gift of Henri Gaillard www.museumca.org/slideshow/ ethno/slides6.html |
| Nouvelle - Irlande masque tatanua 46 000 Francs / 7 012 Euros en collaboration avec l'étude Loiseau - Schmitz-Digard http://www.aaoarts.com/oceanie/ench3/ |
| Liverpool Museum http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/humanworld/worldcultures/oceania/malagan/mask.asp |
| Mask made from wood, vegetable fibre, barkcloth, opercula of sea snails, feathers, pigment, and a European shoe- or clothes-brush in northern New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. 50 cms high. Donated to the Museum in 1899. This mask was probably made in the mid-to-late 1880s. Such crested masks are known as tatanua. According to early accounts, they were representations of the spirit or soul (tanua) of dead people. Today this idea is rejected by New Irelanders, who say that tatanua masks are representations, portraits even, of living individuals. As with many art forms around the world, it seems tatanua were designed to portray the locally conceived criteria of human, in this case, manly beauty. So this mask, like the other tatanua preserved in museum collections, is characterized by an elaborate coiffure, a wide, projecting nose, pierced and distended earlobes, side whiskers, a big mouth, and sound teeth. The tatanua were worn in public dances in which groups or lines of men were disguised by the masks and garlands of leaves and foliage reaching to their knees. Unlike other known tatanua masks, however, this one is distinguished by the fact that the artist has incorporated a shoe brush into the construction. It is placed on the right temple in the position where a group of dried or chewed pandanus seeds would normally have been embedded in a matrix of resin. The brush may have been found or pilfered. What seems clear is that the artist noticed the similarities between the bristles on a brush and the bristles of a group of dried or chewed pandanus seeds and used it as a ready-made substitute. This mask is not by any means the only New Ireland mask to show evidence of recycling. Others incorporate fragments of mirrors and strips of cloth in place of barkcloth. Given that the mask may be a portrait, one can speculate that the presence of the brush may indicate that the person portrayed had contacts with Europeans and perhaps was regarded as being part Western. Caption by Michael C. Gunn. (1899.62.405). Pitt Rivers Museum |
| A mask that was auctioned off at Arte Primivito - Sold for $5250 15-1/2"H. Description: A good, old carved wood mask having a fierce face with wide, open mouth, large, hooked nose beneath intense, button eyes with open irises. Remnants of painted design on face of black and red leaf motif with traces of white. Four vertical bars cage the face, attach to the projecting horns on the cheeks and curve at the top where they meet the high, horned ears. Numerous chips, a few repaired breaks and minor losses, but basically all there and considerable aged. On old wood base. Provenance: Ex. collection of Jean Tindall Cohen, acquired 40 years ago. |
| Helmet Mask Late 19th century Wood, paint, opercula shells, lime plaster, plant fiber, bark, bark cloth, rattan, and cord Museum of Fine Arts Houston |
| A Tatanua Mask, Nouvelle-Irlande Sold for €72,850 ($90,541) June 2003 Christis's Paris |
| Tatanua mask, New Ireland Wood, pigments, raffia and shells 19th century; H 43,5 cm German collection http://www.afrikanischekunst.de/schlag1.htm |
| African and Oceanic Art Sotheby's November 11, 2004 Lot 17, Dance Headdress, New Ireland, 17 3/4 inches long Lot 17 is a dance headdress from New Ireland that is 17 3/4 inches long. "This impressive mask," the catalogue maintained, "is a particularly fine example with thoughtful execution of proportions, surface and detail. The malangan tatanua masks are danced in ceremonies to honor the dead." Description tatanua, of overall helmet-shaped form, the square, openwork mask with jutting, parted lips, broad nose and eyes inserted with snail opercula (turbo petholatus) framed by pendant lobes with a dramatically arching fiber coiffure supported by a rattan frame and decorated with lime on one side and variegated fiber rows on the other; varied aged surface with red, black and white pigment. Dimensions length 17 3/4in. 45.1cm Estimate:$ 8,000 - $ 12,000 Price Realized:$ 24,000 Notes This impressive mask is a particulary fine example with thoughtful execution of proportions, surface, and detail. The malangan tatanua masks are danced in ceremonies to honor the dead. Accompanied by the tempo of drums, boards and bamboo sticks, the male dancers either paired off or lined up to dance the masks in public. An homage to male beauty, the masks depict elaborate coiffures, wide, prominent noses, pierced earlobes and a broad mouth with healthy teeth. See Gunn (1997: 146) for a more detailed description of the ceremony as transcribed from the German anthropologist Robert Parkinson's first-hand account from around 1900. |
| Christie's - Paris Collection Patrice Trigano Itinéraire d'une passion Auction Date : Jul 5, 2005 Lot 118 : MASQUE TATANUA Description Nouvelle Irlande Le petit visage aux traits stylisés, la bouche ouverte, les narines et les yeux percés, ces derniers incrustés d'opercule de turbo, les longs lobes d'oreilles ajourés, le tout recouvert de motifs géométriques de couleur rouge, bleu, noir et blanc, la coiffe avec une crête centrale en fibres végétales, un côté recouvert de craie blanche, l'autre de tissus rouge foncé. Restes de tissus et de costume. Ancien numéro d'inventaire 69207. Hauteur: 44 cm. Estimate:€ 8,000 - € 12,000 Price Realized:€ 28,800 / $ 34,699 Provenance H.J. Parkinson Museum für Vølkerkunde, Vienne, 1903 Karl Handler, Perchtoldsdorf Alain Schoffel, Paris, acquis auprès de celui-ci vers 1970 Notes Ce masque fait parti d'un group de dix masques de Nouvelle Irlande offert en 1903 au Musée für Völkerkunde de Vienne par H.J. Parkinson. |
| Sotheby's - New York African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art Auction Date : Nov 11, 2004 Lot 16 : A NEW IRELAND DANCE HEADDRESS Description tatanua, of overall helmet-shaped form, the openwork mask with jutting lips, broad nose and eyes inserted with snail opercula (turbo petholatus) carved in high relief above pierced eyeholes framed by pendant lobes with a dramatically arching fiber coiffure supported by a rattan frame and decorated with lime on one side and a lizard depicted on the other; varied, aged surface with red, black and white pigment. Dimensions length 18in. 45.8cm Estimate:$ 8,000 - $ 12,000 Price Realized: $ 16,800 Provenance PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK ESTATE Reportedly collected circa 1840, from the Convent, IALK (according to an old label with the piece, no longer extant) J. J. Klejman, New York James Johnson Sweeney, New York Sotheby's New York, November 18, 1986, lot 25 |
| Christie's - New York The C. Ruxton and Audrey B. Love Collection: Important European Furniture, Antiquities and Asian Works of Art Auction Date : Oct 20, 2004 Lot 617 : A NEW IRELAND TATANUA MASK Description The pierced red, black and white painted face with inset operculae eyes and pierced long ear lobes, surmounted by an extensive headdress with plastered red fabric to one side, and twisted fibres strands on a red fabric to the other, centered by a fibre crest, on a later rectangular stained wood base with support, restored breaks and losses to the mask 17 in. (43 cm.) high, 15 in. (38 cm.) deep, the mask Estimate:$ 6,000 - $ 8,000 Price Realized:$ 13,145 Lot 618 : A NEW IRELAND TATANUA MASK Description The mask of white-painted pierced wood with operculae eyes and long pierced ear lobes, surmounted by the elaborate headdress with chalk plaster to one and fibres to the other side, surmounted by a fibre crest, on a later stained rectangular base with support 18 1/2 in. (47 cm.) high, 17 1/2 in. (44 cm.) deep, the mask Estimate:$ 6,000 - $ 8,000 Price Realized:$ 13,145 |
| Sotheby's - Paris Art Africain et Océanien, Auction Date : Jun 15, 2004 Lot 57 : f - MASQUE TATANUA, NOUVELLE-IRLANDE Description La face étroite constitue le seul élément sculpté de ce masque. Il est surmonté d'une coiffe volumineuse, montée sur une armature de branches souples, les côtés faits d'une étoffe d'écorce battue, le sommet orné d'une longue crête de fibres végétales teintes. Le visage, très expressif, montre des yeux réalistes incrustés d'opercules de coquillage turbo et un nez épaté aux narines évidées. La surface est peinte, avec en particulier, autour des yeux, des aplats de bleu de lessive. Le bois est clair et léger. Très bon état de conservation. Dimensions haut. 32 cm Estimate:€ 4,000 - € 7,000 Price Realized:€ 9,600 / $ 11,566 Provenance Rieser, Londres, 1961 Notes Les masques tatanua interviennent dans le cadre des cycles malangan, systèmes de rites mortuaires pour la délivrance des âmes. La coiffure rappelle celle des deuilleurs dont la coutume voulait qu'ils se rasent les côtés du crâne. |
| Sotheby's - Paris Art Africain et Océanien, African and Oceanic Sale Auction Date : Dec 5, 2003 Lot 211 : f - TRÈS BEAU MASQUE TATANUA, NOUVELLE-IRLANDE DETAILED DESCRIPTION associant la sculpture à un décor rapporté, modelé, gravé et peint. Il se distingue par la composition très serrée du visage et de son décor peint, avec des yeux très réalistes faits d'opercules de coquillage turbo et une bouche entrouverte projetée en avant. A ce petit visage répond un très imposant cimier chevelu, fait de fibres végétales teintées d'ocres variées, selon des lignes courbes et en volutes. Le côté gauche est formé d'une composition en chaux, également traité en volutes. Très bon état de conservation. Dimensions haut. 30 cm, prof. 30 cm Estimate:€ 10,000 - € 15,000 Price Realized:€ 23,875 / $ 28,765 Provenance THE PETER SCHNELL COLLECTION L Bretschneider, Munich, 1961 |
| Sotheby's - New York African and Oceanic Art Auction Date : Nov 16, 2001 Lot 195 : A New Ireland Tatanua mask Description A New Ireland Tatanua mask composed of a wood face carved in openwork form with an aggressive expression, the eyes inset with shell and supporting an immense headdress of red and blue tradecloth alternating with areas of white chalk and inset tufts to form a swirling motif on one side and the remains of plant fiber overlaying blue tradecloth on the other, with a medial crest of fiber issuing from the top of the head; encrusted patina with red, blue, white and black finely drawn motifs. height 15 1/2 in. (39.4cm.) Cf. Gunn (1997: figures 41-43) and Helfrich (1973: figures 18a, 27, 28, and 32) for closely related examples. As Gunn (1997: 146) states (citing Parkinson 1907), the tatanua masks are dance masks, created to portray the classic form of manly beauty. These attributes include the elaborate coiffure, the wide, projecting nose, pierced earlobes, whiskers rubbed with lime, and a big mouth with a sound set of teeth. The masks were danced in public both in pairs and in lines of men. They performed in erotic dances which were part of the celebrations to honor the dead. The dancers were accompanied by an orchestra of wood drums, boards and bamboo sticks, and acted out a narrative story. Dimensions height 15 1/2 in. (39.4 Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000 Price Realized: $ 4,200 |
| Additional information on these masks There are several categories of masks used in the malagan. The tatanua mask represents the spirits of the dead who are believed to attend the ceremonies and participate in the dances. Villagers clearly associated the different tatanua masks with specific deceased relatives and believed the mask wearers to be the reappearance of the spirit of that individual. In the past the tatanua ceremony was an exclusive male ritual complex and took place in the men's enclosure. Some of the tatanuas are displays of the “ideal male”, that is, male power and capabilities; others are “portraits” of specific deceased. The placement of the shell [opercula] eyes is an occasion for ceremony and it is at this moment that the spirit is believed to enter the mask. Tatanua dancers performed line dances rather than the individual dances that were typical for other kinds of masked dancers. Their movements imitated birds and/or snakes. The dancer, who wore a short grass costume, re-enacted the activities of an ancestor, sometimes in a comic manner. The crest represents the style of hair once worn by male ancestors. The tatanuas were not destroyed after the malagan festival, unlike most of the other art objects created for this ceremonial display. While the individual elements that make up a particular piece can be identified, the meaning of the piece as a whole changes when the various elements are combined. The interpretation of the person who commissioned the piece may vary from that of other viewers and, indeed, there can be as many interpretations of the piece as there are viewers. The elements used in each piece were chosen by the person who commissioned the piece and were dictated by his knowledge of the relative to be commemorated. Source: Utah Museum of Fine Arts |
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