Funerary dance mask (tatanua), worn during special commemorative festivals (malagan)

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This dance mask, representing an ancestral spirit, was made for a 'malagan' ceremony. These communal festivals were to commemorate important members of the community, and to give their spirits a good send-off.

The mask shows a stylised human-like face, with sharp teeth, lifelike eyes made from parts of snails, and elaborate headgear.

Malagan ceremonies took several days, cost a lot to organise, and often took place several years after an important person died. Dances, at which the spirits of ancestors were invoked, formed part of the complex ceremonies.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-180-000-762-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland Part 2
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  A.1898.467
• Date: 19th century
  
• Material: Mask, feast
  
• Dimensions: 17.00" H
  
• What: Mask, feast
  
• Subject: Miscellaneous
  
• Who:
• Where: Melanesia, New Ireland
  
• Event:
• Description: Feast mask with a face of painted wood, opercula eyes and a helmet of cane bark cloth and yellow fibre: Melanesian, New Ireland
  
• References:
  • Lincoln, L (ed). Assemblage of Spirits. New York: George Braziller, 1987. 
  • Sheridan, J A (ed). Heaven and Hell and Other Worlds of the Dead. Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland, 2000. 
• Translations:
• Related Records: